Guitar in hand, foot tapping a tambourine, Ace Jones is a one-man show for all who pass through the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall. This is where the Marion-based artist has come for years to practice his set in a low-pressure environment. “It’s a great place to just work on songs, or I’ll freestyle a song and see if it sounds good,” Jones said. […]
“Don’t worry; they don’t have a band tonight. I called ahead to make sure,” my husband said about the restaurant where we were thinking of eating that evening. Though we’d technically passed the threshold already, I think that was the moment we officially entered our 30s. I had to tease him about being old and […]
Little Village is pleased today to premiere the video for Good Morning Midnight’s “Josie’s Experiment,” a driving, melodic tune that’s the perfect capper to sophomore album ‘Both Neither and Both.’ […]
As I write this, it has been one year since the passing of one of America’s greatest songwriters, Tom Petty. It’s appropriate, then, that I’m writing a review of another “songwriter’s songwriter.” And, like Petty, Kevin Gordon’s formative years were spent in the American South. […]
I want to thank Luke Tweedy for his Sept. 29 letter to the editor. Artist compensation is an incredibly important subject that isn’t discussed in concrete terms nearly enough. I spend quite a lot of time thinking about it while I sit at a desk working a job I don’t really care about, dreaming of a day when I can support myself entirely on my art. […]
With respect to Mr. Tweedy, I appreciate what he wrote and I agree with him on most points. I believe that this has been said quietly within the community and it’s important that we not take for granted the power of the press to broadcast these ideas. […]
I think it is time for every venue in the area and every band to revalue themselves. Do what you want, certainly—I sure don’t want people telling me what to do. That said, I do take advice. Is a goal of $10 shows by 2020 too lofty? Would suggesting that all shows from here on out charge a $7 base price seem ridiculous? If so, ask yourself, do you really support music and the arts? Certainly some do not, but they were not coming out at any price. […]
While in France trying to make friends, a 15-year-old Elizabeth Moen buried a language barrier beneath guitar chords and a rising voice. She returned to the United States with budding spirit and, after five more years, played her first show — an open mic at The Mill. At 21, she wrote her first original song. Moen has since become a staple of Iowa City’s music scene, cementing a place in the hearts of local music lovers that, at 24, is still surreal for her to hold. […]
Lookin’ to get down, but not sure where to go this weekend? It’s OK; happens to the best of us. Don’t let Monday find you with no great stories to share. Little Village has the lowdown on this weekend’s can’t-miss shows. […]
Trumpet Blossom Café will host a formidable tripleheader on July 22, 2018. Headliner Esmé Patterson is making her first appearance in Iowa City since Mission Creek 2016, bringing a shift in song style from angry protest rock to a more energizing dance vibe. She’ll be joined by two talented local artists: Brooks Strause and Elizabeth Moen. Tickets are $10-12; doors open at 9 p.m. Patterson took a few moments from her studio time to talk to me on the phone on a hot day in mid-July. […]
Little Village and Younger are excited to bring 180 grams of garage rock gold to a turntable near you! Pre-sale for the Iowa City trio’s debut LP is happening now in the LV shop, and will run through July 31. (Pre-sale perks will be announced soon. For now, just know that your advance purchase […]
For many eastern Iowans, your foot in the door to Mock Identity, a new band formed just last winter, is bassist Joshua David Hoffman, formerly of Supersonic Piss, which bowed out of the Iowa City scene in 2013. The band’s farewell blog entry, posted just under five years ago, indicated that Hoffman was off to new endeavors in D.C. — there, he built the connections that led to this new act’s formation, and resulted in Paradise, a debut that is more than Iowa City fans could have hoped for. […]
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