misternervous.com » rock n roll

…aaannd we’re back

Wes — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:59:58 +0000

Mister Nervous returns from hiatus to launch Memorial Day weekend at the Old Town Pub in Pasadena

Yeah, it is a bit hard to believe that our last Mister Nervous show was back in January.
We’re back this month and it is time to party like mad: We’re playing the Old Town Pub in Pasadena Friday May 27th.
We’re closing out the show preceded by The Sundowners and Jinsai... and I’m headin’ to the weddin’ of the head-banging bassist for both those bands Michael Harpel to his gal Tanya the very next day. Yep: Michael is doing double duty on stage the night before he’s to be hitched (so you gotta know this’ll be a raging party).

The show opens at 9pm with Amanda Jones & The Sugartits 3
then it’s
JINSAI @ 10:00!
The Sundowners @ 11:00!
Mister Nervous @ 12:00!

Amanda Jones & The Sugartits 3

JINSAI

Silverlake Lounge Saturday at Six: Mister Nervous – Monthlies.

Wes — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:37:24 +0000

We’re gonna enjoy this one – so will you. THE MONTHLIES. are one of our favorite bands (& it’s kinda a family affair, if you will, as Kelly’s brother is the lead singer – but we love ‘em cause the songs are soooo good and the band’s a joy to experience).

Also it’s a celebration of a birthday among The Monthlies: the lovely and talented lead guitarist Jana.

Mister Nervous is up first at 6pm, yup REALLY SERIOUSLY 6pm. The Ross Sea Party is up at 7 and The Monthlies. at 8. It’s all over by 9pm allowing you to continue the party elsewhere nourished by good songs and great people. The new Mister Nervous song CRYSTAL GIRL has been a hit with audiences every time we play it – we’ll be recording this one soon. Naturally we’ll have copies of the DRAMA cd available… we’re gonna give some stuff away too.

MONTHLIES. lead singer and songwriter Wes O’Lee has also embarked on a very ambitious project: writing, recording and posting a new song every day in 2011. It’s almost disturbing how prolific he can be – writing so many good songs. It’s enuff to make Mister Nervous full of jealous envy…(well, Wes D anyway).

…and so in the venerable (haha) misternervous.com tradition of supporting stuff that is totally awesome (even if WE didn’t MAKE it ourselves) we present here the first two posts in the WES O’LEE – A SONG A DAY 2011 project:

OK: this first one here is also a family affair: Kelly plays drums and sings back-up along with his gorgeous gal Jana… and Monthlies. bassist Chris Hall notes:”I need to tag my bass from 8th grade in this sucka!”.

and heeeere’s song #2
(‘scuse me for a minnit… I think I got sumpin’ in my eye…)

MISTER NERVOUS – THE ROSS SEA PARTY – THE MONTHLIES.
SATURDAY JANUARY 8th @ 6pm
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE
2906 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 663-9636

Black Friday with Old Californio

Wes — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:03:35 +0000

The Sundowners and Mister Nervous at the Old Towne Pub

Old Californio: music that could have only been created in Southern California? (photo by Roman Cho)

Is it currently OK to mention New Riders of the Purple Sage, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Spirit or The Grateful Dead in polite conversations about WestCoast music and still seem reasonably cool? Like I care. These OLD CALIFORNIO guys have that 1970 thing going, fer sure, but with their own updates and personal flavor. The band rocks with the mild mannered authority and breezy casualness that can turn a stage into a back porch. I defy you to listen to some of the tunes on their playlist there (Mother Road f’rinstance) without getting that desert vista/top down/cruisin’ in the sunshine feeling.

"Indignant playing and spirited drinking" (photo by Didier Chevalier)

2009's Westering Again

OLD CALIFORNIO: Westering Again

What we’re talking about here are really great songs (remember those?). There’s no real dross or dead weight on this ambitious work. It’s a melodically complex and accomplished effort, hard set with a blast-furnace production that reveals the considerable talents of the band’s membership.

What we’re talking about here is bright guitar-driven melodies with complicated and earthy arrangements, mixed in with a little down-home country twang and dovetailing instrumental jams, providing ample evidence that they also have a tacit understanding of what made those great classic rock outfits of yore so exhilarating and memorable in the first place. -Bryan Thomas, February 2009

OK THEN: So by now it’s pretty clear we’re lookin’ forward to sharing the Old Towne Tavern stage with these fellas and our good friends THE SUNDOWNERS (about whom I’ve often expressed my admiration: HERE for example)

We had a great time introducing new song CRYSTAL GIRL at the Airliner show so we’re natch-er-ly gonna be doin that again along with some selections from DRAMA an all… we’re up first @ 9pm followed by the prides of Pasadena N Alta Dena and summa the nicer folks you’ll ever meet. You should probably come…

Strike that if yer NOT comin what’s WRONG with you?

Nah, just kiddin…

Come anyway.

FRIDAY NOV 26th

Mr. Nervous 9:00
Old Californio 10:30
The Sundowners 12:00

Old Towne Pub
66 N. Fair Oaks
Pasadena, CA 91103
Enter through the alley on Holly Street
21+ - $5.00

The Damn Sons

Wes — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:17:29 +0000

Travis Schneider, Jens Kuross, Grant Lovelace

The Damn Sons bring it hard and heavy with a respect for history and a demand for immediacy. It’s like someone put Reverend Horton Heat, AC/DC, Nirvana and T-Rex in a blender and ran it till the lid blew off. This stuff rocks with a crunchy brutality and twisted melodicism that “sounds like a long sleeved shirt with horses on the front, some gum, a lighter, a knife, and a new deck of cards with girls on the back” (according to their facebook page).

The Damn Sons ep 01

Their ep 01 is available on iTunes and it shows what a big beautiful noise can be produced by three guys who know what they’re about. Who Want’s More stomps with a vengence, with reverb drenched testifyin’ and roiling guitars. Funky chording opens up Movin’ On sliding into a rolling groove surrounding a careening melody. Riffy mood-rocker Crawl of the Wild is just swimming in swampy juju leading up to a sublime chorus. Lead em to the Shore closes out with a staggered funky beat and chanted refrain. Cool stops/starts and unexpected twists abound throughout the set.

Jens Kuross is one of LA’s more awesome percussionists, at home in multiple genre’s of music and his playing is spare, supple, subtle and savage all at once. Travis Schneider’s got some pretty powerful pipes, (his vox are at times soaring and others times just in-yer-face) and his gutsy guitar lines guide the action with big chord blasts and indelible riffs. Grant Lovelace appears to have joined up on bass after the cd was tracked: he’ll be there with the guys tonight at their Bootleg Theater show. I’m goin, so far I’ve only seen 2 out of the 3 guys at an Unknown Theater show and I’ve been tryin to catch another gig for a while.

With Electro/Indie/Psychedelic band AMERICAN ROYALTY (who are releasing their debut ep tonight) and MINI MANSIONS.

Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90057

21+ 8 bucks at the door

doors open 9pm

Mister Nervous: November 16th @ the AIRLINER

Wes — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:19:59 +0000

We’re heading back to Lincoln Heights to play at THE AIRLINER next week.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 16th
2419 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90031
We’ll be up first on the main stage upstairs (doors open @ 8pm – we won’t keep you out late – unless you wanna be out late…).
We’ll be playing selections from the DRAMA cd and a new song too!

We’d sure like to see you there.

Cranes Hollywood Tavern 9/20

Wes — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:57:33 +0000

It’s been a year since Mister Nervous played at CRANES?!?

Hard to believe: but last September we were working on the DRAMA cd and played those songs for the first time in public over at Cranes Tavern. Now the cd is out there and the set sounds better every time we play it. Ask anyone who was at the Viper Room or Bordello shows if you don’t believe me.

Tonight we’re heading back over to Cranes to blow the doggone doors off. Yeah, confidence is high. You should probably come on out and see, pick up the CD or a really cool T (yeah, the Mister Nervous t-shirt is the fashion element to be seen in this fall).

It’s the ongoing event HOMEWORK MONDAYS! DJ Ned Casual will be doing his usual thing: spinning roots rock, vintage RnB and blues with impeccable taste (seriously, the guy never plays anything that is not awesome and essential)… and THREE bands:
10pm – Bad Apples Blues Band
11pm – MISTER NERVOUS
12:00 – The Downtown Train

FREE! 21+

CRANES TAVERN
1611 North El Centro Ave
Los Angeles CA
90028

The LA Foldaways

Wes — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:06:41 +0000

The LA FOLDAWAYS are finally entering intense rehearsals in May. A side project from the Mister Nervous band, Wes and a dedicated crew of misfits will be pulling together a repertoire of “classic” rockNroll including numbers from The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, The Kinks, Van Morrison, Shocking Blue (!), The Who… and more stuff including some interesting takes on old blues and RnB songs. A core trio is working as the lynchpin – and a large pool of singers and players will rotate as the “front” or songleaders in many performances.

Not quite a tribute, “Classic Rock” or jam band – more a combination of all three. Shows will often feature completely different band line-ups, as available players will work in different combinations making each show completely unique. The LA Foldaways mission: to treat many of our favorite vintage songs as vibrant living things to be joyously jammed (as opposed to reverently copied).

We’ll let you know more soon.

Silver Factory Sunday

Wes — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:06:18 +0000

Mister Nervous played Blue Day with Ben Fordham on violin at the DRAMA cd release party last week

We had a great time jamming with our friends last week at the Unknown Theater where we released our new CD Drama. Almost everyone who sang or played on the record was able to come out and make that big sound come alive. Lydee from the Sundowners sent along some pix that we’ll put up in the images area, Thanx Lydee! We’ll be playing more shows with the Sundowners this year, Dennis has already set one up for June at The Old Towne Pub in Pasadena, and we’re grateful for that because we love playing with those guys! In fact: I want to thank everyone who made it out to the show last Thursday for their support.

Now just in case you were one of those unfortunates who managed to miss out on that show here’s your next opportunity to rectify that terrible error (AH-HA-hahaha) ’cause we’re playing at the Silver Factory Studios this SUNDAY 3/28. We’ll have our friends Rocking Horse People and Megasapien with us so if you didn’t catch their recent performances at Echo Curio and the Unknown … well then you gotta complete win/win/win situation on hand here!

SUNDAY MARCH 28th

Silver Factory Studios 3/28/2010

SILVER FACTORY STUDIOS
10pm: ROCKING HORSE PEOPLE
11pm: MISTER NERVOUS
12:00 : MEGASAPIEN

The Sundowners play the Unknown Theater

Wes — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:48:41 +0000

The Sundowners do what they please

There’s nothing quite like a SUNDOWNERS show. The songs this band plays are completely their own and influenced (as lead singer and guitarist Dennis Stahl says) by,”…all the good shit from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. This is not a contrived sound for the masses, it’s a heavy psychedelic, spiritual blues sound:100% organic and designed to open the mind. There are a lot of acts out there, yes, but only a few bands. What this means is three guys and a lady who play together and off of each other. We don’t cater to any particular audience, just those interested in good rock and roll from every era.”

From the hills of Alta Dena where the air is justa little clearer and the altitude justa little higher their music will probably remind you of a lot of things but it’ll never sound even slightly derivative. And live the band projects an atmosphere of affection and whimsy that makes it feel like you’ve been invited into a happy house-party with your new favorite slightly bent friends.

Michael Harpel and Dennis Stahl

On SKELETONIZE , their second album, the songs pull from an even wider landscape of sounds and moods than on their sprawling two disc debut cd. Just when you think you know where the journey is headed the band’ll switch it up and take you to some new unexpectedly wonderful place…as Dennis recently remarked “we’ll do uptempo and downtempo in the same song”. This flies in the face of the current trend of easily pigeonholed cookie-cutter compositions many groups use to try to zero-in on their currently chosen demographic target, which naturally makes this unaffected take-us-as-we-are crew very near and dear to Mister Nervous’ heart.

And so we are pleased beyond words to say the Sundowners are opening up our Mister Nervous record release party this Thursday!

The Sundowners love you and they're your new best friends!

THURSDAY MARCH 18th

THE UNKNOWN THEATER
1110 Seward St.
Los Angeles CA 90038

(with MY IMAGINARY FRIENDS and MISTER NERVOUS)

Doors open at 10pm
$10 at the door (however: drinks are very reasonable!)

My Imaginary Friends play the Unknown Theater

Wes — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:14:35 +0000

My Imaginary Friends are playing a rare midnight set at the DRAMA release party Thursday

The record company suits might call My Imaginary Friends alternative country rock, but you’ll call ‘em irresistible. Erin Armstrong writes songs that sound like your best friend is just plain talkin’ to ya… except you’re surrounded by a soundscape as real and familiar as your favorite streach of sun-dappled country road. The band’s music folds pop, indie, country, jazz and rock elements into a completely original mix that always feels like the real deal. If these songs don’t immediately get under your skin and into your heart then you and I got nothin’ to talk about.

Erin and Ben Fordham (fiddle, mandolin, guitar) left Charleston, SC, and joined up in LA with Grant and Yohei. Their newest cd Blue Carolina is startin’ to cause a bit of a stir in Nashville as well. And why not? The record opens with Sue Thrasher an exhilarating rockabilly rush of blues harp and slide guitar. It’s a near mission-statement with Erin in full Carolina Firecracker mode (“Even Carolina is turnin’ blue; Darlin’ you don’t know nothin’ ’bout where I’m from”). Blue Carolina is an excellent representation of the band’s live energy, where even the most bittersweet songs in the set are delivered with such infectious bonhomie it often feels like half the audience is floatin a foot above the floor.

These days the band has stepped back from the constant gigging they were doing for a while, so chances to catch this excellent band are not so frequent… but we’re very happy to say they’ll be with us on Thursday to help us launch the new Mister Nervous cd! Erin and Ben contributed vocals and violin to some tunes on DRAMA and they’ll be sittin’ in with us during the Mister Nervous set so come early and see 3 fantastic bands.

THURSDAY MARCH 18th

THE UNKNOWN THEATER
1110 Seward St.
Los Angeles CA 90038

(with THE SUNDOWNERS and MISTER NERVOUS)

Doors open at 10pm
$10 at the door (however: drinks are very reasonable!)