Artist Feature
by Garland Harwood

Warm Yourselves on February 17th!

UPDATE: Read the recap and see photos HERE. It was a hoot.

UPDATE: Read the recap and see photos HERE. It was a hoot.

It’s cold out there, so I thought it would be fun to warm things up a bit with some whiskey and fine tunes.

On February 17th, Banjo and I will be hosting our first hootenanny. The grass clippings winter warm up at Bar 4 in Brooklyn has a lineup that should, without a doubt, be assembled in a much larger venue. However, these friends of grass clippings have agreed to give us a unique, intimate show on a stage where you typically would see a singer songwriter perform. And intimacy is nice in the winter. Mark your calendars and get there early. Please wear plaid. It’s free, but you should donate. Here’s what we’ve got:

Spirit Family Reunion

10PM – Spirit Family Reunion – Recently seen on Paste Magazine’s Best of What’s Next list, Spirit Family Reunion was the first band ever blogged about on grass clippings. This group of young Brooklynites was a mere Ditmas Park farmer’s market band a few years ago, but has toured aggressively (despite horrid van breakdowns) all around this side (and a little on the other) of the Mississippi and recently opened for top acts like David Wax Museum and the Alabama Shakes. The band currently has a January residency at the Living Room on Wednesdays in the other borough. Catch em at a small venue while you can. (Video: “100 Greenback Dollar Bills”)

Jus Post Bellum

9PM – Jus Post Bellum – The minimalist folk songs of Geoffrey Wilson backed by the harmonies of Hannah Jensen on vocals, Zach Dunham on percussion, and Daniel Bieber on upright bass, are mostly inspired by the American Civil War (but also by less historical things). Wilson’s songs are poetic and create vivid pictures of another era in the heads of listeners. The band, which was featured in a showcase for the CMJ music festival last year, just recorded its first full length album and will likely be among those talked about at SXSW this spring. You can catch them in January in their residency at Arlene’s Grocery on Thursdays. (Video: “Hearts Full of Sorrow”)

The Parlor Soldiers

8PM – The Parlor Soldiers – Every now and then, a band that emails me turns out to be something that I really like. The Parlor Soldiers, who come from my home commonwealth of Virginian in the city of Fredericksburg, is a duo made up of Alex Culbreth and Karen Jonas and just released When The Dust Settles (Bandcamp). This album of great tunes caught my ear, so I asked them to come up and play.  Turns out they had another show booked at home, but were excited enough about this to reschedule that and make a trip to Brooklyn just to see you. (Video: “When The Dust Settles”)

AND THAT’S NOT ALL. Before 8PM is Bar 4 happy hour and it’s dirt cheap awesomeness. We’ll also be showing some of our photos from the 2011 Newport Folk Festival, which were shot by Richard Kluver and drove more traffic to this here blog than we’ve ever seen. Thanks to Vi Luong for the winter warm up poster.