hursday, June 11, 2009
Just Added: Bird of Youth

On Sale Now



Beth Wawerna (who was named after the iconic KISS song "Beth") brings her band Bird of Youth to LPR in support of Mark Eitzel performs American Music Club on July 18. Bird of Youth's first album, produced by Will Sheff of Okkervil River and engineered by Phil Palazzolo (The New Pornographers, Neko Case, Radio 4) boasts an impressive cast of players including members of Nada Surf, the Wrens, the Mendoza Line, Okkervil River, Royal American and The National, resulting in an album that, according to the band, sounds like a Pretenders album ghostwritten by Dorothy Parker. Hmmmm. Intrigued? Check out more here.



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$15
Mark Eitzel performs American Music Club
w/ Bird of Youth
Sat., July 18, 2009 / 7:00pm
folk indie rock singer-songwriter
Audio / Video


Gallery
About This Event
Minimum Age:
18+
Doors Open:
7:00pm
Show Time:
7:30pm
Artists
Mark Eitzel performs American Music Club
Mark was born in Columbus, OH, but spent most of his formative years in a military family traveling to different areas of the world, including the United Kingdom.

His first band was formed while he was back in Columbus, called The Naked Skinnies. They disbanded within three years, and, in 1982, Eitzel formed American Music Club. The band performed and created albums for twelve years. At one point, Eitzel also sang with San Francisco's Toiling Midgets, and often recorded solo work while involved in the band.

American Music Club called it quits in 1993, and Eitzel focused on his solo career, offering up 60 Watt Silver Lining as a compilation of songs he had recorded over the years in 1996. Following this, he released West in 1997 with help from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. He quickly followed up with Caught In A Trap And I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby, which was a different type of album for Eitzel, and assisted by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo bassist James McNew.

Mark released more music in 2001, beginning with a more electronic turn in The Invisible Man. This was followed by two covers projects in 2002: Music for Courage and Confidence, which was material written by other songwriters, and The Ugly American, an album which included reinterpretations of American Music Club songs.

American Music Club reformed in 2003, and released Love Songs for Patriots along with touring the United States and Europe. Eitzel released new solo material, Candy Ass, in 2005. Candy Ass was recorded in San Francisco and London over a three-year period, both before and after the AMC reunion album and tours, and was mixed and mastered in London in June of this year where Eitzel spends much of his time. All photos on the album were taken by Eitzel.
Bird of Youth
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 the 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, Royal American and The National. 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.