The Dig @ Bootleg Bar (Westlake)
The two lead singers of the New York City quartet, Emile Mosseri and David Baldwin, have been making music together since they were 11 years old, so it comes as no surprise that they're still going strong with two albums and a new EP, Tired Hearts, released a few weeks ago. If you were fortunate enough to catch some of their Silverlake Lounge residency dates last summer, then you know how great the band is live. If not, then this show at the Bootleg with FIM, Orange Umbrella and Oh Boy Les Mecs is your chance. Warped Tour @ Pomona Fairplex (Pomona)
The summer festival kicked off its 19th year last weekend and stops in SoCal for a two-day stand in Pomona before moving on to other parts of the state, including Seaside Park in Ventura on Sunday. This year's lineup boasts over 70 bands, which include 3OH!3, Motion City Soundtrack, Juliet Simms, Anarbor and let live. Good news if you're under 18 and can't drive yourself to the fest, one of your parents gets a free ticket with your paid admission and you can drop them off at Reverse Daycare for the day so you can run from stage to stage without having to worry about them keeping up.
FRIDAY, JUNE 21
FILM
In Theaters This Week
Find out how Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) became the best of friends at Monsters University; Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Arterton in Unfinished Song; World War Z stars Brad Pitt as a UN employee attempting to stop the outbreak of a global zombie epidemic. Also starring Mireille Enos ("The Killing") and Matthew Fox. Also in theaters: Between Us; Call Me Kuchu; The Haunting of Helena; A Hijacking; Rushlights
SUNDAY, JUNE 23
(Gary Leonard)
CULTURE
CicLAvia – Iconic Wilshire Boulevard
The cost- and car-free event takes over the street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from One Wilshire in Downtown to Fairfax Avenue in Miracle Mile, spotlighting the area's architectural evolution as part of the Getty's Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A. program. There will be plenty of food vendors and activities along the route for when you want to take a bike break, including the fifth annual Koreatown BBQ Cookoff at Serrano and Oxford Avenues (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' tribute to Chris Burder's Urban Light installation at LACMA using 7.5-foot tall Oscar statuettes. Gary Leonard
DRINK
Drink: Eat: Play Wine Festival @ The Santa Monica Pier (Santa Monica)
If you're an oenophile but your summer budget can't cover a trip to Napa or even Santa Barbara,
Presented by BevMo, there will be over 50 wineries represented by hundreds of wines. The $50 ticket covers your wine tastings, however, food is sold separately.
MUSIC
She & Him, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell @ Hollywood Bowl (Hollywood)
The duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward released their latest album, Volume 3, in May, and as much as I love the sunny pop of She & Him and Ward's amazing guitar skills live, the main draw of this show for me is Emmylou Harris. The country legend teamed with Hot Band member Rodney Crowell for their first official collaboration, Old Yellow Moon, which came out earlier this year and have been been captivating audiences on a nationwide tour. This is definitely the show of the week and the perfect way to kick off your summer at the Bowl.
MONDAY, JUNE 24
MUSIC
Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas @ The Satellite (Silver Lake)
What I love so much about the Detroit band is the gritty realness of frontwoman Jessica Hernandez. While her voice is unfailingly powerful, it also transmits an honest vulnerability in all the songs on their latest, Live at the Magic Bag. However, simply listening to the album may not be enough to satisfy you. Let their live performance fill all voids tonight at the Satellite.
CULTURE
Hillary Rodham Clinton @ Gibson Amphitheatre (Universal City)
The former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and First Lady speaks as part of the American Jewish University's Public Lecture Series that has included conversations with Tony Blair, Colin Powell and Al Gore. Don't miss what is sure to be a scintillating exchange between Clinton and AJU president, Dr. Robert Wexler.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26
MUSIC
AM & Shawn Lee @ The Echo (Echo Park)
The duo of Angeleno AM and Londoner Lee wrote and recorded the entirety of their sophomore effort, La Musique Numerique, from their respective continents, yet they were constantly in step with one another. Their blend of soul, '70s funk and electro is infectious on tracks like opener "Two Times," "All the Love" and "Automatic." Don't say I didn't warn you, be completely prepared to work up a sweat on the dance floor.
AM & Shawn Lee – La Musique Numérique (Park the Van)
The title for the duo's sophomore album translates to 'digital music' in French. While it is indeed full of electric elements that will have you dancing in no time, there are surprising sonic touches and lyrics that span the course of music's history as well as its future. Pulsating beats punctuated with funky keys and searing guitar riffs inhabit album opener "Two Times," the words of "In the Aftermath" touch those of any age and there's an electric sitar on "Automatic." Mark your calendar for June 28 because their show at the Echo is one that shouldn't be missed.
Fitz and the Tantrums – More Than Just a Dream (Elektra)
The Angelenos unveiled sone of the songs from their follow up to 2010's Pickin' Up the Pieces when they opened for No Doubt at Gibson Amphitheater at the end of last year, and it was clear that the new material possesses the same mix of pop and soul that put them on the map. Produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, Phoenix), More Than Just a Dream is the six-piece's debut on Elektra and boasts super danceable tracks like first single "Out of My League," "6am" and "Spark." The group appears on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" May 8 and at KROQ's Weenie Roast May 18 before heading on out on tour with Bruno Mars for select dates this summer.
Savages – Silence Yourself (Matador/Pop Noire)
The intense debut album from the English all-female quartet will alternately have you thrashing your head and plunging into the darkest depths of your soul and will eventually leave you breathless. If you didn't catch them at the Echo or at Coachella last month, you only have to wait a little while to witness their unique brand of post punk at one of their compelling live shows. They're currently crisscrossing Europe, but they just announced a concert at the El Rey on July 23.
She & Him – Volume 3 (Merge)
Most of you know of my love for M. Ward, so it's no surprise that this is my most anticipated album of the week. Although he has never been the main attraction for most She & Him fans – he provides guitars, arranges and produces, while Zooey Deschanel acts as primary singer-songwriter – there's no question that their chemistry and blending of talents really make the band what it is, as evidenced by their two previous albums. They continue to transport listeners to another era in American pop with covers of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" and Blondie's "Sunday Girl," as Deschanel's charisma seems to have the ability to effervesce through the speakers. That said, the only appearance of Ward on vocals during "Baby" makes it my favorite track on the album. See their chemistry on stage (backed by the Chapin Sisters) June 23 at the Hollywood Bowl, with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. Tess Henley – High Heels & Sneakers (Hey! Listen to This!)
Aside from winning a slew of songwriting competitions (Budweiser Superfest, Soul Tracks International Song Competition, John Lennon International Songwriting Competition), the Seattle singer/pianist also won an Independent Music Award for Best R&B Song. Born to a professional-singer mother and avid record-collector father, Henley started taking Suzuki lessons when she was 3 and could belt out songs when she was 5. Her soulful debut arrives today and was produced by the Roots' Dice Raw and Grammy nominee Khari Mateen.
The Uncluded – Hokey Fright (Rhymesayers) Hokey Fright marks the debut of the union between acclaimed rapper Aesop Rock and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson, a rapport that began when Rock sent a fan e-mail to Dawson in 2007. They appeared on one another's recent solo efforts and eventually decided to hatch a collaboration. The result is an incredibly exciting blend of irreverent yet poetic lyricism that is in-your-face yet playful at the same time. Witness the duo in action at the First Unitarian Church on July 25.
Also available – 98 Degrees' 2.0; Ann Pragg's Bitter Fruit; Banquets' self-titled; Beware of Darkness' Orthodox; Bracher Brown's Broken Glass and Railroad Tracks; The Child of Lov's self-titled; Co La's Moody Coup; Courtney Jaye's Love and Forgiveness; Deerhunter's Monomania; Devour the Day's Time & Pressure; Eksi Ekso's Archfiend; Grandchildren's Golden Age; Havoc's 13; The Hussy's Pagan Hiss; Jim Guthrie's Takes Time; Joe Satriani's Unstoppable Momentum; Karl Hyde's Edgeland; Lady Antebellum's Golden; Little Boots' Nocturnes; Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds' Haunted Head; Michael Feuerstack's Tambourine Death Bed; Mikal Cronin's MCII; Mother Falcon's You Knew; Mylets' Retcon; Natalie Maines' Mother; Northcote's self-titled; Patty Griffin's American Kid; Phaseone's If I Tell U; Pistol Annies' Annie Up; The Reflections' Limerence; Rod Stewart's Time; Shannon Wright's In Film Sound; Still Corners' Strange Pleasures; Straight No Chaser's Under the Influence; Sun Angle's Diamond Junk; Talib Kweli's Prisoner of Conscious; Tim & Adam's self-titled; We Are Loud Whispers' Suchness
DVD RELEASES
Film – The latest Nicholas Sparks big-screen adaptation, Safe Haven, stars Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough as a couple taking risks for a chance at love; Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, The Tourist) directs Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher; The horrifying Mama stars Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. TV –30 Rock: Season Seven; Cake Boss: Season 4, Vol. 2; Flashpoint: The Fifth Season; Fringe: The Complete Series; Private Practice: The Complete Sixth Season; Rookie Blue: The Complete Third Season; Royal Pains: Season Four
Music –Bon Jovi – Survivors; Rihanna 777 Documentary: 7countries7days7shows
Also available –ABC's of Death; The Assassin's Blade; Barrymore; The Briefcase; Bunohan: Return to Murder; Cars 3; Citizen Hearst; Clandestine Childhood; The Condemned; In the Hive; Man Who Will Come; Mark 2: Redemption; Mighty Fine; The Oranges; Revenge for Jolly; She Cat; Silver Case; Somebody's Child; Starlet; Strawberry Summer; Superman: Unbound; Trouble in the Heights; Upstream Color; Wolf Head
One of my favorite features of Los Angeles is that you can find little pockets of nature intermingled with its concrete sidewalks, brick buildings and asphalt streets. Just steps from the congested 5 and 110 freeways – nestled next to Echo Park, Solano Canyon and Elysian Heights – are the 575-acres of verdant hillsides, towering palm, avocado and oak trees and serene walking trails known as Elysian Park. Founded in 1886, it's the city's oldest park and is home to the picturesque Grace Simons Lodge, the L.A. Police Academy, Chavez Ravine and Dodger Stadium. It's the ideal place to spend a day lounging in the sun and the perfect setting to get to know a music group who not only formed in the area but spent many afternoons amidst Elysian Park's landscape, the Chapin Sisters.
Although Abigail and Lily Chapin grew up in New York and have recently moved back to their native state, the sisters lived as Angelenos for over eight years. Over that time, Elysian Park was the backdrop to many wonderful memories, so it's no wonder that they chose it as their favorite L.A. haunt and the location for our interview during a visit back to the city as they prepare for their new release, A Date With the Everly Brothers, an album of cover songs that will be available April 23.
As we begin to walk through the grassy knolls that run parallel to Stadium Way, Lily shares, "This is right where our nephews used to have soccer practice. They were still quite small, and it was before they even know how to play soccer. They would just run around and kick the ball."
"We have always come here since we moved to L.A. for various things since different friends have lived in the neighborhood," adds Abigail. "I lived in two different houses bordering on Elysian Park, one in Solano Canyon and then one over by the walking trail. Our brother and his wife lived up here with their kids for a while, so we would just meet in the park all of the time. Our other sister lived in Echo Park for a long time, so we had a standing Friday afternoon picnic."
"We would get tamales from the Echo Park Farmers' Market and bring them to the park," remembers Lily. "Any friends or whomever could just come hang out."
Aside from those Friday afternoon picnics, the pair have definitely longed for a few other aspects of Los Angeles since having moved back to New York close to a year ago.
"I miss everything: people, places, the sunshine," Lily begins. "During
the winter in New York, you don't get as much fresh fruit and vegetables
at your neighborhood corner store. Here, you can get amazing tomatoes
all year around and don't have to pay a premium for it. Everyone has a
fruit tree in their yard. Fruit is literally falling off trees here."
"It's the land of abundance," chimes in Abigail. "I crave tacos all the time. Unfortunately my favorite restaurant in L.A. doesn't exist anymore. Sushi Nozawa closed because [Chef Kazunori Nozawa] retired. But it doesn't matter, there's still so much good food here. There's a lot of good, cheap street food that really doesn't exist in New York unless you have pizza every day."
The Chapin Sisters' roots are firmly planted in New York where they're surrounded by a family with an incredibly rich artistic history. Their father, Tom, is a Grammy-winning musician, and the sisters lent their voices to his children albums when they were young. Their uncle, Harry, was the acclaimed singer-songwriter known for songs like "Cat's in the Cradle," "Flowers Are Red" and "Taxi."
"We were definitely inspired by our grandmother who was a fabric artist and our grandfather who was a jazz drummer. One great-grandfather was an impressionist painter and our other great-grandfather was a writer, philosopher, literary critic and the editor of a modernist periodical called The Dial. He raised his family in Greenwich Village in the 1930s and had a bit of a bohemian circle around him, which set the stage for all of the intellectual and creative outsiderness of our family," Lily tells. "Let's just say that on our dad's side of the family we don't have a lot of doctors, lawyers or businessmen. There is a lot of people who, at the risk of financial security and societal pressures, just decided to do what they wanted to do."
"Our cousin likes to say that you can be whatever you want, you can be a triangle player, but you have to be the best triangle player there ever was," Abigail says with a laugh.
"That certainly puts a lot of pressure on you in its own way," Lily confesses. "It's a strange and interesting family, and I think we're very blessed to have grown up in it."
Lily had originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film, but inevitably her path led to music.
"When I graduated from college I did a stint with documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple, who is an incredible mentor. She has a few Academy Awards for her documentaries [Harlan County, USA and American Dream], which are phenomenal. I came out here for the first time working on a film with her, and it was such a dream. I loved the hands-on, creative energy that she displayed and that she infused in me. As soon as that job ended and she went back to New York, I decided to stay in L.A. but soon realized that the rest of the film business wasn't for me – at least the L.A. version of it. It's very compartmentalized, and I didn't find my compartment," she says. "When Abigail came out to visit and we started singing, I was felt like it was tangible and something we could do right away. I've always lived my life in a listen to your gut kind of way. If the door opens and it seems like a good thing might be on the other side, check it out. That's how our band started: The opportunity appeared, we were in the same place at the same time and were really excited to play music."
At the encouragement of their brother Jonathan, the sisters put out an acoustic version of Britney Spears' "Toxic," and eventually formed the group with their half-sister Jessica Craven in 2004. The trio began garnering critical and public notice with their gorgeous harmonies, unique lyrics and mix of folk, blues and pop. They released their first full length, Lake Bottom LP in 2008 before establishing their own label of the same name, a nod to their family's New Jersey farm where they spent many summers swimming in the lake, canoeing and roasting marshmallows over a fire.
After Jessica decided to take a break from the band to have a child in 2010, Abigail and Lily continued on and released a sophomore album, aptly titled Two. They also went on to travel the world as the opening act and back-up singers for She & Him. The duo reprise their roles in the She & Him band this summer, touring across the nation, including a June 23 stop at the Hollywood Bowl.
"Playing the Hollywood Bowl is so exciting," Lily beams. "I used to go see the symphony there sometimes."
"I've had a few great nights there," agrees Abigail. "The first year we lived here, we went to see the Sing-A-Long Sound of Music, which is incredible. It's a movie that I've seen more than any other, but you kind of forget how long it is. I think we left at intermission."
Lily adds, "They also had this parade where children come dressed up as characters from the film, and the first 10 minutes you ooh and ahh they're so cute, and then—"
"Three hours later," interjects Abigail.
"You're like, 'Oh my god,'" Lily finishes. "But the best concert I saw in an amphitheater setting was at the Greek – Willie Nelson & Family. It was totally amazing. I thought, 'wow, he's stacking all of his hits at the beginning of his show, what's he going to play next?' And then I say, 'Oh yeah, 'Georgia!' Oh yeah, 'Crazy!' at every new song because there are just so many hits."
"But the tour with She & Him is going to be awesome. It's fun to be on tour with them. In a way, it's a treat to not have to be the frontpeople and do all of the other work that's involved in the whole mechanism behind the show," Abigail admits. "We've played the Hollywood Bowl, but we're also playing some cities that I've never been to before. In all of our extensive touring and life travels I've never been to Las Vegas, and we're playing there, so I'm excited."
They are both very excited about next week's release of A Date With the Everly Brothers, a project that was funded through a Kickstarter campaign which their supporters contributed over 150-percent of what they hoped to raise. With Lily as Don and Abigail as Phil, the sisters perform covers of songs, like "All I Have to Do is Dream," "When Will I Be Loved" and "Till I Kissed You," by the beloved brothers
"The Everly Brothers' influence on musical history is undeniable, but the main areas for us are obviously the two-part harmonies, the fact that they're brothers and we're sisters and their songs. The songwriting is phenomenal, and it's not exclusively their songs or songs that were written for them, it's both," gushes Lily. "They were writing and operating in a time that was a burgeoning golden age of pop music. They were recording only the best material they came across or came up with, and if it wasn't good enough they would go back to the drawing board and write again because they were holding themselves up to the same standards as the songs they were covering. Pretty much everything they touched turned to gold, just hit after hit after hit."
"Their era of ruling the charts was 1961 to 1964, then the Beatles came and washed away everyone's memory of anything that came before. Everybody who was alive at the time, from the Beatles and all the '70s bands who did country-tinged folk rock, was so influenced by them," Abigail informs. "Our generation, many people know the Everly Brothers and their hits, but it's not like people are listening to the deep tracks."
As both sisters can attest, there really are so many great songs they could have covered on A Date With the Everly Brothers, so I wondered how they came up with the 14 tracks that made it onto the album.
"We didn't listen to every Everly Brothers song because, for example you could buy an Everly Brothers hits album on iTunes with 55 songs for $7.99, and some of the songs we did aren't even on that. There's probably 150 songs we could have chosen, and every person that we talk to says, 'My favorite song is blah blah blah and I can't believe you didn't do that,'" laughs Abigail. "We have a new favorite that we've been performing that we didn't put on the record, and I feel like we have to be careful to not keep doing this and say, 'Let's learn more Everly Brothers songs.'"
"The first song that we sent out to the people on Kickstarter who pledged was 'Crying in the Rain,' and that song to me is a really good distillation of what is so amazing about the Everly Brothers," reflects Lily. "Then you can go off in different directions, there are songs that we perform on the record that go in a more country direction, rollicking uptempo country-rock songs like 'Brand New Heartache' and 'Sigh, Cry, Almost Die,' and then there are these heartbreaking ballads like 'Sleepless Nights' and 'Love Hurts.' But 'Crying in the Rain' distills it all into one song in a really good way."
"And it feels very modern. The songwriting is different than all of the other songs," adds Abigail. "It's by a songwriting duo that had never worked together before or since: Carole King and Howard Greenfield. They always had other writing partners but were put together for one day, and this is the song they wrote."
To pay tribute to that golden era of pop music, the Chapin Sisters decided to record the entire album live in the studio, just as the Everlys might have done.
"That era before digital recording, you really had to know how to play. Studio time and analog tape were expensive, gear was harder to come by and everybody had to be prepared, have learned their material and be good enough to do it right every take. The idea of being able to get in a room with a bunch of musicians and record live where everyone's playing at the same time creates this energy that you can't duplicate any other way. One of the reasons why some of those old records feel so amazing is that you're hearing a performance. You're not hearing a construction of a performance, which is also equally valid and I love songs that are constructed that way too. But there's something about the feeling and knowledge that this all happened in a linear fashion that to me is very comforting about the music of the early two-thirds of the 20th century," Lily says. "For musicians of our generation, it's a huge privilege to get to record that way because a lot of times people are doing things piecemeal because it's cheaper and easier—"
"On their own computer," interjects Abigail.
"There's a lot of compartmentalizing of the process. When you do it all at once, everybody is looking around the room saying, 'OK that person stepped it up, so I'm going to step up my game too.' You can feel this other animal come out, which is the group, and everyone's performance is affected by it," Lily concludes.
The sisters are having lots of fun doing photo shoots and performances dressed in drag as the Everlys, while also getting set for their tour with She & Him. I ask if they plan to write some material for a new album during their downtime on the trek, and both think it's a possibility.
"Usually when we're on tour we're really busy, so we'll see if we will be this time," Abigail replies. "The last time we did the She & Him tour we were opening the shows, so we were working extra hard because we would run from their sound check to ours, set up our merch, play our show, change our clothes, play their show, break everything down. This time it's going to be a lot more laid back for us, as just back-up singers."
"In the past our writing style has been more solitary, then we bring what we have to each other and see where it goes from there, which goes in every direction from having the song end up being exactly what it was to changing it completely or it not existing anymore. We're open to seeing how new things feel for this next record as far as writing styles," states Lily. "We'll try to write some things from scratch together, but in the past it's always been easier to come to the table with something because inspiration strikes at weird times, you can't really control it."
As we continue our walk through Elysian Park, I ask the sisters if they spent any time writing lyrics or melodies in the park. Abigail responds, "I spent a lot of time here. I would walk, meditate and write overlooking the stadium."
"When you're taking walks alone, it's a really good way to stimulate that part of your brain, so even if you're not writing while you're walking you sometimes get an idea and then you have to run and find a piece of paper to catch it," Lily says. "That's my biggest struggle as a writer catching the ideas because sometimes I'll get an idea in the car or walking or as I'm falling asleep, and it seems so obvious, I say, 'Oh, I'll remember that,' but you need to catch it while it's there or else it floats right by."
"I heard the woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love [Elizabeth Gilbert] on the radio, and she had a story about Tom Waits because he actually talks to his songs as if they are physical objects or people. If he's driving a car and a song comes to him, he says to it, 'Not now. I spend eight hours a day in the studio. If you want to be taken seriously, come back tomorrow and I'll be ready for you,' and it works," Abigail recalls. "[Gilbert] does it too. She had written Eat, Pray, Love with a totally different name, and she kept sending it out to friends with different names. She closed her computer one day and said to the story, 'If you know your name and aren't telling me, I have to send this in tomorrow so you better tell me your name.' and then it came to her."
"Whatever works," Lily says in amazement.
Abigail admits that she frequently uses her phone to record ideas for songs.
"But the thing about that is, you kind of lose the magic. Listening back to it, you go, 'What? I don't understand what this fragment means,'" she confesses. "Modern technology is very useful. There are all those movies from the '80s with people driving around writing books by talking to their tape recorders, and I always thought that was a good idea because it's so much easier to talk than it is to write."
When they aren't working on their music or touring as support for others, the duo have distinctly different outlets to express their artistic creativity. In 2011, Abigail established Arc of LA, a line of handmade accessories she designs, prints and sews herself.
"Our mother has a clothing store, and I would go to trade shows with her and see things that I wanted. I would go home and try to make it, whether it was a sweater or a bag," Abigail recalls. "When we were on a break from touring I started making bags. The first one was for Lily for her birthday. I made them for fun, then other people wanted to buy them so I started making them to sell in a few stores and at craft fairs. It's creative but physical, and music is very intellectual there's no physical presence to it. It's all in the ether and in your mind. Songwriting's very heady and sound disappears, so it was good at the time to watch a project from start to finish and have something physical at the end. It also involved being home, we had been on the road for a long time, two straight years, so it was nice to sit in my apartment and sew things."
Lily, on the other hand, chose to delve further into writing.
"While Abigail was starting her bag business I was working on a novel," she shares. "I've been taking classes and pursuing the more intellectual side of my life in conjunction with the music. It's about keeping yourself inspired. … It's a real gift to do music as a part of your life, to have something you enjoy. It's not an easy path, but life's not supposed to be easy."
A Date With the Everly Brothers releases April 23. The Chapin Sisters perform as part of the She & Him band June 23 at the Hollywood Bowl. For more information, visit thechapinsisters.com.
