American Dumpster’s much-anticipated new CD, Rumor Mill, will see the light of day this month, and there are plenty of opportunities to get out, see a great band and pick up that record. May 18 is the official release date, and there will be a catered release party at a location to be disclosed in the very near future. The Dumpsters will also play at The Corner Plan 9 on May 20. Recorded at Sound of Music, the disc is a fine representation of Christian Breeden’s tunes fleshed out by the swampy groove of the band.
AD also played the first basement gig at Tokyo Rose in a long time, perhaps boding well for live music at the west end of town. You can also hear the band this Friday at Uncle Charlie’s in Crozet.
Breeden has been staying busy on the side as well. His band Cirque D’evolution (an “art noise” collective) has been out on the scene, as has 3 Dollar Date, a band whose initial, very laudable goal was to offer up tacos, beer and some hot tunes at a cheap price. With The Outback Lodge as their primary residence, 3 Dollar Date features Breeden, drummer Warren Jobe, bassist Dave Bartok and guitarist Landon Fishburne. The band launches jams based on jazz standards or funk essentials, and then Breeden works his magic, connecting with rock tunes bumping around in his head, or stream-of-consciousness lyrics a la Patti Smith. The band also plays some of the hundreds of tunes written by Breeden that, he says, may not fit AD’s repertoire, “either because of style or subject matter.” Breeden says when he gets home and listens to the off-the-board tapes, he could not be happier about the high level of musicianship. 3 Dollar Date appears monthly at The Outback—including this Thursday, May 4. Breeden is also the musical director of a planned “urban carnival,” a collaboration between Zen Monkey dance troupe and Foolery, which is slated to happen this July.
The second guitarist in 3 Dollar Date is Landon Fishburne. Originally from Char-lottesville, Fishburne just returned from a three-year stint in New York City, where he worked at a club in Midtown and played lots of music, including a stint in a gypsy jazz duo. Fishburne plays a seven-string Conklin guitar with a low B string that he bought online. Breeden says Fishburne’s playing reminds him of Ry Cooder, because he is “very aware of his tone, and he has a real touch.” Fishburne also plays in an eclectic jazz trio with bassist Bartok and drummer Brian King. Eponymously named, that band will be in the Starr Hill Lounge on Wednesday night.
American Dumpster keyboardist and accordionista Betty Jo Dominick has taken over the Mall kiosk in Central Place and, together with cut flowers and bouquets from her Secret Gardens floral biz, she will be selling CDs by local artists (as well as barbeque by Jinx’s Pit’s Top, as recently reported by C-VILLE) in a very visible Downtown location. Interested musicians should stop by The Kiosk in person weekdays between 11am and 3pm. Dominick also has more plans for the kiosk up
her sleeve.
This Friday night at Gravity Lounge you can go see Roomful of Blues, a jump blues band that has been together in name since 1967, and launched the careers of two of the best blues guitarists out there.
Good CD recommendations can be hard to come by, and so it is with much sadness that we note the sale of The Village Voice and recent firing of critic Chuck Eddy. It looks like the Voice may have finally hit the corporate skids.
Anyone heading out on the festival circuit this summer, look for Kevin Wimmer’s Red Stick Ramblers. The relentlessly rocking and danceable Louisiana sextet is ridiculously hot. Somebody please bring them to town.