For Digital First MediaWelcome to “Seven in Seven,” where each Friday we take a look at shows coming to the region over the next week. Whether your musical tastes are rock and roll, jazz, heavy metal, singer-songwriter or indie, there’ll always be something to check out in the coming days.
Here are seven of the best for the week beginning Oct. 22:
Lawrence Rothman – Oct. 22 at Johnny Brenda’s
Raised in the Midwest, Lawrence Rothman started writing songs and recording music in home studios from the age of nine. At the same time, he began to change his appearance on the daily, using clothing and costume to represent the multiple sides of his interior self. By adulthood, Rothman had a name for these various personalities: the Alters. Every song is written from the point of view of a different Alter, which affects the style of their arrangement, vocal delivery, and accompanying visuals. Despite these differences, common threads run through his work in a fascination with the underbelly of Hollywood, gender expression, and people on the margins of society.
Noah Gundersen – Oct. 22 at World Cafe Live – Downstairs
Noah Gundersen is the product of a lifetime of pushing boundaries and learning to craft his own perspective. His parents, although devoutly religious, encouraged a questioning of dogma and church hierarchy. They also instilled in him a love of music from an early age. They also instilled in him a love of music from an early age. Along with starting him on piano at age nine, Gundersen’s father taught him melody and tracked songs to a reel-to-reel tape recorder. This led to an obvious obsession with music which the singer/songwriter carries with him to this day.
Soulfly – Oct. 23 at Voltage Lounge
Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera is a trailblazing musician with millions of albums sold who nevertheless retains boundless street cred due to his grimy and raw authenticity; he’s easily one of the most prolific artists the realm of heavy music. Having co-founded the legendary Brazilian metal outfit Sepultura, Cavalera brought his unmistakable growl to meld perfectly with the muddy tones and constant rhythmic bounce of Soulfly, which has been retained in its gritty, boundary pushing format for two decades now.
Yumi Zouma – Oct. 23 at Johnny Brenda’s
Few artists find a committed fanbase without having ever played live, but in 2014, Yumi Zouma endeared themselves to listeners before their first band practice. Following a four-song EP that immediately caught people’s attention, the act’s inbox filled with requests from publicists and booking agents, long before they saw themselves as a real band. Everything they’d created had been online, passing files back and forth between their home in Christchurch, New Zealand to Paris and New York. Earlier this month, the dreampop band released their second album, Willowbank, their first effort written and recorded entirely in their home country.
James McMurtry – Oct. 18 at MilkBoy
The son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry, who penned Lonesome Dove and Terms of Endearment, James McMurtry grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. His first album, 1989’s Too Long in the Wasteland, was produced by John Mellencamp and marked the beginning of a series of acclaimed projects which led to various award wins and nominations, including a latter for a Grammy Award. The Austin-based Americana musician has since developed a devoted following which carried through most recently to his 2015, universally acclaimed LP, Complicated Game.
Motograter – Oct. 25 at ReverbMotograter was formed in 1995 and is most well-known for their namesake instrument the “Motograter,” a mysterious contraption designed with industrial cable, guitar pieces, and other components, to create a unique, low, rumbling and distorted bass sound. The band is also instantly recognizable for their image, one in which they cover themselves in tribal style body paint. To best describe their sound, one would have to delve into the bowels of industrial, mixed with a heavy hint of nu metal and heavy samples in the form of electronica.
Death From Above 1979 – Oct. 27 at Union Transfer
Last month saw Death From Above release their third full-length album, Outrage!, easily their most potent and powerful set of songs to date. For the highly influential genre-defying alt-rock/punk/power duo consisting of Sebastien Grainger on vocals and drums and Jesse F. Keeler on bass, keys and synths, it’s just one more evolution in their high energy sound. The record finds them taking a decidedly directional shift where they decided going back to basics but with quantum leap in songwriting and vocal performances would suit them best. It worked.
