Zig At The Gig podcast

The Trouble Notes

Interview with Bennet Cerven of The Trouble Notes.

 

Hailing from three different continents, The Trouble Notes blend folk traditions from around the world with a driving, modern energy that transports audiences on a musical journey like no other. Their signature sound, led by Bennet Cerven's virtuosic violin melodies, combined with Florian Eisenschmidt’s dynamic guitar rhythms and Julian Lardis’ powerful percussion, creates a truly immersive live experience. Having played at some of the world’s most iconic festivals—including Glastonbury, Boomtown, and Fusion Festival—their performances are not to be missed.

TICKETS for Thursday July 3RD Negative Space Cleveland OH: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-trouble-notes-at-negative-space-cleveland-tickets-1286009261319

 

 

The Trouble Note's Info 

https://thetroublenotes.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheTroubleNotes/

John Leon of The Royal Arctic Institute (part 3)

Interview with John Leon of The Royal Arctic Institute. John returns for the third time to talk about The Royal Arctic Institute's new self titled album. 

The Royal Arctic Institute is a cinematic instrumental post-jazz group from New York City. They have been recording and releasing records since 2017. Since forming in 2016, the band has been a revolving door of different musicians comprising several different lineups. The current lineup is composed of drummer Lyle Hysen (Das Damen, Arthur Lee), guitarists John Leon (Roky Erickson, Summer Wardrobe, Abra Moore) and Chris Robertson (Elk City, James Mastro), and bassist David Motamed (Das Damen, Two Dollar Guitar, Arthur Lee, Townes Van Zandt). The band name is a reference to the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. All four members of the Royal Arctic Institute have spent decades playing in various ensembles, working as studio musicians, backing musicians, and touring musicians.

This self-titled fourth full-length recording from The Royal Arctic Institute is the first to include guitarist Chris Robertson. According to the band, Robertson is a crucial addition to the group, as he provides an added dimension to The Royal Arctic Institute sound and creative process, particularly because this debuts the group as a two guitar quintet. The decision to present this new album as a self-titled record is tightly connected to the band’s excitement about their current musical direction.

The new album also marks the first time The Royal Arctic Institute is working with Ray Ketchum of Magic Door Recording. Ketchum, often noted for his engineering and recording work on the last handful of Guided by Voices albums, helped steer the band towards an approach which allowed for a rich and fully developed sonic experience. Ketchum’s keen and well attuned ear in the studio made it possible for The Royal Arctic Institute to focus more on the nuances they had been developing on previous releases, something apparent on “Twigs Of Cries, Feathers Of Sobs.” As guitarist John Leon points out:

 

 

 

 

https://www.theroyalarctic.com/

Pete Francis Returns to Zig At The Gig !

Pete Francis founding member of Dispatch returns to Zig At The Gig.

Tickets for June 13th.

Pete Francis Tickets for June 13th Winchester Lakewood OH

 

Long Legged Fly C-Level and Pete Francis Pre- Save Link

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/clevel/long-legged-fly-feat-pete-francis

Pete Francis Heimbold grew up in Riverside, Connecticut, taking early influence from the reggae music of Bob Marley along with classic songwriters like Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell. While attending Middlebury College in Vermont, he connected with fellow musicians Chad Urmston and Brad Corrigan. The trio formed Dispatch, a rangy roots-inspired indie band who became a fixture of the East Coast club, festival, and jam circuits. Between 1996 and their 2002 hiatus, Dispatch released four studio albums and a live record, building a sizable audience through heavy touring and grassroots promotion. Francis stepped out in 2001 to make his solo debut with So They Say, an album that bore some resemblance to his work in Dispatch and contained several songs they had played live together. When the group officially announced their hiatus, he kicked into gear, issuing a prolific string of albums through his Dragon Crest imprint. In addition to solo releases like 2003's Untold and 2008's Iron Sea and the Cavalry, he also teamed up with Craig Dreyer for the 2006 joint album Everything is One. Meanwhile, Dispatch continued to gain new followers despite their hiatus and in 2007, they reunited for a charity concert at New York's Madison Square Garden. After a surprise sellout, two more dates were added, both of which also sold out. Francis then teamed up with fellow New Englanders Barefoot Truth for a 2009 EP, then issued his fifth solo album, The Movie We Are In, in 2010. 

In 2011, Dispatch officially reformed and resumed touring and recording. Although the band occupied much of his focus, Francis continued to record on his own, releasing 2013's Immodal Implozego and a 2015 compilation, Dragon Crest Collective, Vol. 1. In 2019, after three more studio albums with Dispatch, Francis left his longtime group and resumed his solo career in earnest. For a few years he focused on singles and EPs like Humble Down and Sun Fuzz, both of which were released in 2021. He also built his own home studio and began self-producing his music. With its vibrant electronic sounds and drum loops, 2023's PTRN SKY! marked a tonal shift for Francis and was his first home-recorded album. The following April he explored his reggae influences on the sunny EP Neon Light Blind.

Steve Short of Brahctopus

Interview with Steve Short of Brahctopus and formally of Stationary Pebbles.

June 13th Pete Francis of Dispatch with C-Level, and Brahctopus at The Winchester Lakewood OH. 

Pete Francis Tickets

About Brahctopus.

Brahctopus is fronted by a ukulele-wielding vocalist with a passion for lyricism. Three unique guitarists and a keyboard wizard feed off one another for ripping solos and lifting harmonies while the bass and drums create rhythmic bliss.

The most recent release is an episodic concept album that coincides with the first volume of a graphic novel, the Proto Terrestrial Freedom Movement. Available on all streaming outlets!

www.brahctopus.com

 

Ryan Fletterick of Songs For An Unknown God

Interview with Ryan Fletterick of Songs For An Unknown God.

 

Songs For An Unknown God" is the musical project of Cleveland-based folk singer-songwriter Ryan Fletterick. He is known for his evocative storytelling and stripped-down acoustic style. Ryan's music is described as a blend of confession and meditation, with songs that aim for the soul rather than the charts. Wax Mage Vinyls https://waxmage.com/products/songs-for-an-unknown-god-100-miles

 

Tickets June 13th Pete Francis, C-Level, Songs for Unknown God, and Brahctopus

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/pete-francis-of-dispatch-the-winchester-tickets/14338833?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=lakewood-events&fbclid=IwY2xjawKQ0RpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFNaG4wSG5zekhoU0ZITDU0AR4XHNyU_5f4vhFHaTeu5Qk8HJQPBDFyyIfqAFcnVraB5aAeXzWkXRxhJrucQQ_aem_bhIXCC5WaldgghTt1pS25A

Charming Disaster Part 3

Brooklyn-based goth-folk duo Charming Disaster’s upcoming album The Double—their seventh full-length release—explores the world that exists behind the one we know, featuring songs inspired by nature, mortality, magic, ritual, and literary genres ranging from science fiction to Victorian horror. The new album was co-produced by band members Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris with longtime collaborator, recording engineer Don Godwin. All but one of the ten tracks were recorded at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, MD, with one song recorded by circus music composer Peter Bufano in Boston, MA. The Double will be released on CD, as a 12-inch colored vinyl LP, and on all digital platforms on May 16, 2025. The vinyl will be released in a 2-disc package that also includes Charming Disaster’s 2024 compilation Time Ghost, a collection of singles released over the last decade.

 

The Double invites listeners to step across the border of an alternate reality, where spells are cast, time travel is possible, plants are taking over civilization, and vampires lurk in the shadows. Adventures in the darkness lie beyond the threshold.

 

The album’s ten songs include “Black Locust,” a lullaby about mortality; “New Moon,” a magical nature ritual; “Trick of the Light,” a reimagining of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; “Time Machine,” in which Charming Disaster change the past and start over again; “Scavengers,” a walk in the woods with vultures and bones; “Beautiful Night,” a defiant response to struggles with depression; “Vitriol,” a tribute to artist Thomas Little, who turns guns into ink; “Haunted Lighthouse,” a swashbuckling sea voyage; “Gang of Two,” a true crime adventure; and “Green Things,” a love letter to what grows between the cracks (and its inevitable takeover).

 

The album features an array of talented collaborators. Co-producer Don Godwin, who has worked on Charming Disaster’s entire discography, contributed bass, drums, and horns as well as engineering and mixing. “Haunted Lighthouse” features Broadway percussionist Mike Dobson along with circus composer Peter Bufano, who played piano and accordion and engineered the track at Cirkestra World Headquarters in Boston, MA (with additional tracking at Tonal Park). “Scavengers” features cello recorded by Kate Wakefield of the duo Lung, who also created the string arrangement for “Beautiful Night.” Stefan Zeniuk of Gato Logo contributed saxophone to “Green Things.”

 

In conjunction with The Double, Charming Disaster is releasing the second edition of their “oracle deck” (similar to a Tarot deck). The Charming Disaster Oracle Deck contains 72 cards (including 12 new cards for the second edition), each representing one of the songs from Charming Disaster’s discography. The cards feature illustrations commissioned from more than thirty different artists. The deck can be used as a divination tool, or as a visual accompaniment to Charming Disaster’s music. The duo themselves use these cards in their live performances to determine the set through the element of chance.

 

Charming Disaster was formed by Bisker and Morris in 2012, inspired by the gothic humor of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the murder ballads of the American Folk tradition, and the dramatic flair of the cabaret. Together the duo write songs that tell stories about myth, magic, and mortality, using two voices to explore dark narratives and characters with a playfully macabre sensibility.

 

On their critically acclaimed albums Love, Crime & Other Trouble (2015), Cautionary Tales (2017), and SPELLS + RITUALS (2019), Charming Disaster explored death, crime, folklore, and the occult. On Our Lady of Radium (2022), they turned their attention to science and explored the life and discoveries of pioneering scientist Marie Curie. On Super Natural History (2023), they united the natural world and the metaphysical realm in a musical cabinet of curiosities.

 

The duo put out two releases in 2024: Time Ghost, an album-length collection of songs released as singles between 2013 and 2024; and Dance Me to the End of Bela Lugosi’s Lovesong, an EP of covers paying tribute to a few of the band’s influences: Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love,” “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus, and The Cure’s “Lovesong.”

 

In Charming Disaster’s live shows, the duo combine vocal harmonies and clever lyrics with ukulele, guitar, and foot percussion, with a cabaret-influenced performance style that straddles the line between concert and theatre and has been described as “haunted vaudeville” (Splice Magazine).

Charming Disaster’s music has been featured on the spooky hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale. They have opened for legendary cello-rock ensemble Rasputina, Goth icon Voltaire, and Amanda Palmer’s punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. Their concerts have captivated audiences across the United States and in Europe. They have appeared alongside storytellers, comedians, fire eaters, puppets, burlesque artists, poets, and circus performers. Recent appearances have included Joe's Pub in NYC, Atlanta’s massive pop culture convention Dragon Con, Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery, the Rochester Fringe Festival, Philadelphia’s Science History Institute, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, VA, Cleveland's WizbangCircus Theatre, and the Coney Island Sideshow stage, as well as sundry bars, art galleries, theatres, bookstores, libraries, train cars, mausoleums, and museums.

 

LINKS:

Website: www.charmingdisaster.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/charmingdisaster

Instagram: http://instagram.com/charmingdisasterband

YouTube: http://youtube.com/charmingdisasterband

Bandcamp: http://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1RjkfhamohczSXjFy5WcZh

 

The Double preorder link: charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/the-double 

 

 Tickets : Charming Disaster at The Foundry Cleveland June 5th with Cowboy Princess Brigade

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/charming-disaster-cowboy-princess-brigade-the-foundry-tickets/14325923?utm_medium=affiliate&irgwc=1&clickid=yKYzFM2SwxycTOrRPc1Gt0d7UksRjjwhTXGA2E0&camefrom=CFC_BUYAT_219208&impradid=219208&REFERRAL_ID=tmfeedbuyat219208&wt.mc_id=aff_BUYAT_219208&utm_source=219208-Bandsintown&impradname=Bandsintown&ircid=4272

 

C-Level Pete Francis Tickets :

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/peter-francis-of-dispatch-the-winchester-tickets/14338833?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=lakewood-events

 

Knox Chandler (Psychedelic Furs and Siouxsie & The Banshees guitarist)

Knox Chandler’s career has spanned for over four decades including long stints as a member of The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cyndi Lauper band, extraordinary experiences in recording and performing live around the world. Chandler’s also performed, recorded, arranged and produced, working with acts such as REM, Depeche Mode, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, Natalie Merchant, Tricky, The Creatures, Dave Gahan Paper Monsters and The Golden Palominos etc.

Knox spent a decade residing in Berlin, Germany, while he explored sound-scaping.  He developed a technique he calls “Soundribbons, which he recorded and performed in its own right as well as applying it to different genres and mediums . He composed, recorded, toured, produced, and wrote string arrangements for Herbert Grönemeyer, Jesper Munk, Pure Reason Revolution, The Still, TAU, Miss Kenichi and the Sun, Mars William’s Albert Ayler Xmas, Rita Redshoes, Them There, The Night, etc. While living in Germany received a Post Graduate certification in education and was the head of the guitar department at BIMM College.

Chandler returned to the States to be near family and now resides in the New Haven Connecticut area.

The Sound is the solo debut of much-travelled musician / producer / arranger / painter Knox Chandler. This project is a musical / visual memoir depicting the shift in his surroundings from the urban to the rural, specifically the Connecticut shoreline off the Long Island Sound and the impact of this dramatic change of environment on his consciousness and the art-work that leads to.

 

At The Sound ‘s core is Chandler’s “Soundribbon” style of meditative, powerfully cinematic instrumental performance on guitar, accompanied by upright bass and percussion which comprises the audio component of the release. The visual portion is a book of paintings, photographs, sketches and written meditations, interpreting nature through technology. The blending of these mediums is Knox’s attempt to make the diaristic intent of his music explicit. The Sound is being released on Knox’s new label Blue Elastic on May 30. The album is available on digital download and on streaming platforms on its own, or the book comes with a download code.

https://knoxchandler.bandcamp.com/

https://knoxchandlermusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/knox.chandler.3/

https://www.instagram.com/knoxchandler/

 

 

C-Level Pete Francis Tickets :

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/peter-francis-of-dispatch-the-winchester-tickets/14338833?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=lakewood-events

 

Toby Radloff "The Genuine Nerd From Cleveland Ohio"

Toby Radloff  is a former file clerk and actor who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in Cleveland writer Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic book series American Splendor. Radloff has a distinctive manner of speech and quirky mannerisms.He is a self-proclaimed "Genuine Nerd".

Career Radloff met Pekar in 1980 when Radloff was hired at Cleveland's Veterans Administration Hospital, and shortly became a recurring character in American Splendor. Television profiles of Pekar at work at the VA Hospital, in which Radloff appeared, led to Radloff being featured as a "special correspondent" in a few short comedic pieces on MTV in the late 1980s about Cleveland and White Castle hamburgers (a particular favorite of Radloff's).Radloff was also a frequent guest on a local Cleveland cable access show, The Eddie Marshall Show. Radloff is a huge admirer of the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds, which he estimated in 2003 to have seen at least 25 times; his enthusiasm for the film was documented in the American Splendor comic (and in a number of scenes in the American Splendor film). Radloff's public persona as a "Genuine Nerd", cemented by his appearances on MTV, led to his starring roles as Harold Kunkle in the comedy horror film Killer Nerd (1991) and its sequel Bride of Killer Nerd (1992)

Toby's Info

toby.radloff

https://www.waynealanharold.com

 

 

C-Level Pete Francis Tickets June 13th Winchester Lakewood OH

Souled American

Interview with Joe Adducci of Souled American.

April 19th Souled American at Negative Space Cleveland OH

Tickets 

"There are cult bands and then there's Souled American. In 1988, the Illinois group arguably invented "alternative country" with the album Fe. While the alt-country sound is widely recognized as Southern roots rock with an indie-punk sensibility — largely defined by Uncle Tupelo's No Depression released two years later — Souled American's early music feels as if it was formed in a vacuum, inspired by the time-stretching space of reggae. But over the course of the following decade, Souled American's music grew increasingly slow, insular and esoteric. Although Fe, Flubber and Around the Horn are inarguably more accessible, upbeat and even sometimes fun, if you've never heard this music before, it actually makes sense to start at the end." NPR MUSIC.

 

Souled American Info:

https://www.souledamerican.net/

 

 

 

C-Level Pete Francis June 13th Winchester Lakewood OH

Mike Baggetta of mssv Part 3

On And On is the 3rd studio album from the post-genre power trio mssv featuring the legendary
rhythm team of drummer Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, Mavis Staples, David Lynch) and bassist
mike watt (MINUTEMEN, fIREHOSE, Stooges) alongside the unique and iconoclastic guitar of
its genre-bending bandleader, Mike Baggetta. On And On features brand new songs that were
written by Baggetta before their 58-show 2023 US tour and performed every night, recorded and
produced by Chris Schlarb at BIG EGO Studio in Long Beach, CA immediately after. The album
comes out on BIG EGO Records on 12” LP vinyl, digital download and streaming services on
Friday, March 7, 2025 and features artwork by John Herndon (Tortoise). 
Featured in the works on this album is a band-improvised song and, on the vinyl issue only, six
more band-improvised interludes. These improvised, then recomposed, instrumentals had their
parts recorded separately by each member, then edited down, recombined and recomposed by
Baggetta’. They serve as an important connective tissue between the songs on each side,
turning On And On into an exciting and trippy psychedelic fever dream of a concept album. This
serves to really bring out the story of On And On: at its heart it is an album where all the works
combine to create an endless episodic journey through the temporal and seemingly fleeting
nature of society, personality, music, and life and death on Earth, only to realize that all of these
are also endlessly repeating.
Seven of the eight new songs feature vocals from Baggetta, now much more comfortable in his
vocal role from the previous mssv album Human Reaction. The wordcraft heard here in On And
On goes a lot deeper than his previous lyric writing, while still remaining wholly individual in its
exploratory playfulness. The subject matter here, while being universally relatable, is rife with
personal references, stories of his and the band’s friends and relationships, and one
song “Despair & Hilarity” including lyrics written by one of Baggetta’s most important musical
collaborators Steve Gigante (7 Year Rabbit Cycle, W-S Burn, THETEETHE). 
Continuing to explore the seemingly endless depths of Hodges’ and watt’s musicianship and skill
over the many tours and albums in mssv has grown an instantly identifiable sound from
Baggetta’s songwriting for this band. But the trust that has formed between them, that comes
from long-running musical partnerships, has also made it possible for mssv to explore more
interesting ways to incorporate improvised music into the lives of their songs, innovating their
music in new ways while still keeping the fearless nature of each musician and this band fully
intact. On And On skillfully combines all of these elements into a newly evolved lens for the
music of mssv, deftly displayed in this album as a high concept love letter to everyday life.

April 13th mssv Beachland Cleveland OH Tickets https://www.beachlandballroom.com/e/14076233/mssv-well/

mikebaggetta.com

https://mainsteamstopvalve.com/