Monday, July 30, 2007

We Get Press Releases...

...and this one's actually interesting.

THREE OF NEW YORK CITY’S FINEST SONG WRITERS
Edward Rogers, George Usher & Richard X Heyman
PERFORM BAROQUE POP FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2007 AT JOE'S PUB, 9:00 PM

Three of New York City's finest songwriters - Edward Rogers, George Usher and Richard X. Heyman will present an evening of “baroque pop” at Joe’s Pub on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007. Each artist will perform songs from their individual CDs, as well as introduce new material, accompanied on this one night only by the cream of the city’s string players.

Edward Rogers and George Usher will do a set of mostly new material, featuring Mark Sidgwick on twelve-string guitar, Claudia Chopek on violin and Garro Yellin on cello. Usher will play guitar and piano while Rogers will add percussion to the ensemble. Two years in the making, Edward Rogers’ upcoming CD, "You Haven’t Been Where I've Been," (Zip Records) showcases the inventive and eclectic pop songwriting of the Rogers/Usher team. This appearance will feature songs from the new CD, as well as several from Rogers’ highly-acclaimed debut, Sunday Fables. Sharing the stage, NYC songwriter George Usher (who penned Laura Cantrell’s “Not The Tremblin’ Kind” and Richard Barone’s “River To River”) will offer up material from his work-in-progress, "Yours And Not Yours," as well as older favorites from his deep back-catalogue.

“Perhaps America’s greatest unsung hero of power pop” (All Music Guide) -- “Heyman's talent and pop craftsmanship are pretty close to perfection” (Newhouse Wire Service) -- “A genuine national pop treasure” (Iowa Press Citizen) – “on a par with Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren and Emitt Rhodes” (CD Reviews.com) – these are just a few of the accolades tossed around to describe NYC singer/songwriter Richard X. Heyman and his latest release and sixth album, "Actual Sighs." Heyman has been producing seemingly effortless pop masterpieces for the past two decades, while also lending his musical abilities to efforts by such artists as Brian Wilson, Peter Noone, Ben E. King, Jonathan Richman, Link Wray, Michael Brown and The Shangri-Las’ Mary Weiss. A master of DIY, Heyman recently acquired a new keyboard for his home studio, which opened the floodgates of composition in a new direction. Heyman will debut many of these new pieces, with himself on piano, Nancy Leigh on bass, and accompanied by a string quartet consisting of Deni Bonet, Lara Hicks, Chris Jenkins and Eleanor Norton -- in the best chamber-pop tradition of The Left Banke and Love.


I must confess to being unfamiliar with the ouevre of Mssrs. Rogers and Usher, but attentive readers know that we're over the moon about Heyman's most recent album, so this show, as we're wont to say, could be a hot one. Those of you in the Tri-State Metropolitan Area, should mark your calendars accordingly.

4 comments:

Kid Charlemagne said...

Actually, I'd be more interested in seeing George Usher than Heyman.

I have at least three of his discs and they are quite wonderful.

Kid Charlemagne said...

BTW, too bad this is mid-week! I would seriously consider taking the Chinatown bus to NYC to see this show if it was over the weekend.

steve simels said...

KC --

If you change your mind, let me know -- Mrs. Heyman will put you on the guest list.

Kid Charlemagne said...

Thanks Steve! It's *very* tempting and I'd love to see RXH, but mid-week will not work for me.