Today is the first day of my 10 date midwest run with Son Ambulance.  Right now I’m sitting at The Old Mattress Factory or The Matt Bar and Grill as it says on my pint glass – eating some fish tacos and looking at 13 different large screen TVs showing baseball and golf.  

This afternoon I visited Antiquarium Records.   I got a used copy of Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House on CD for $4 and I spoke with Chelsea.

JO’C:  How long have you been working here?

Chelsea:  About 3 months.

JO’C:  What did you have for lunch today?

Chelsea:  A bagel.

JO’C:  What’s your favorite place to eat in Omaha?

Chelsea:  Amsterdam Falafel & Kebab on 50th Street.

JO’C:  That’s the 2nd time I’ve gotten a falafel joint recommendation in my 3 times asking this question of record store employees.  Hmm…. 

What’s your favorite local band?

Chelsea:  Box Elders  (Jeremiah of  Box Elders was hanging out behind the counter with his geetar).

JO’C:  What’s your favorite record of 2008 so far?

Chelsea:  Times New Viking!

JO’C:  Yes, I’ve heard of them somewhere.  No, I’m kidding – I love their record too.  To continue the Matador theme we have going here, what is your favorite Matador band of all time?

Chelsea:  Pavement!

JO’C:  Good choice.  

Anything else you’d like to add for the Matablog readers?

Chelsea:  Keep buying records and going to record stores!

JO’C:  Wise words.

I would like to note that this was a charming store with very nice people and lots of vinyl!  When I told Chelsea I was on Matador and what I was there to do, she remarked that she wasn’t cool enough for Matador – that I should wait for the owner to come back because he was cooler.  I just want Chelsea and everyone else to know…that they ARE cool enough for Matador.  Matador loves you.  And so do I.

xox

JO’C

PS. I’ll be doing some myspace blogging about the shows and such on my, uh, myspace page.

The next 100 people to pre-order my COMING SOON record HERE WITH ME (on CD or LP) will receive a signed record jacket!!

Matador has ordered 100 extra LP sleeves which I will sign with SILVER SHARPIES for extra beautiful-ness!  They will be neatly trimmed to look like a record flat – suitable for framing!

Several people have expressed to me how much they love the new album cover and so I made this suggestion to Matador and they agreed. They said, “Great idea, Jennifer!”  You see, this is how great music business relationships work.

So, don’t miss your chance to own a piece of JO’C/Matador history.

Love,

JO’C

As promised, I am here to do some blogging about the tour we finished a couple of weeks ago in support of Mr. Jamie Lidell.  I’m just beginning to feel recovered from it -we covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.  Going in to the tour, I thought we were different enough as musical acts (Jamie and I) to make for an interesting (albeit, perhaps slightly odd) show. I was actually really excited about doing something different instead of just touring with another singer-songwriter/song-oriented band.  I thought it would be really cool to have two pretty disparate acts on the same bill.  Today, having been through the experience, I’m not sure if it worked or if it can work. It was truly difficult at times, but completely spectacular and revelatory at others.  In all, I’m really glad we did it and I feel like I learned a lot.  

As a music fan, I love it when I go see a show and there are really different types of music on the bill.  It keeps me on my toes and keeps me from being a complacent listener.  But these types of shows happen so rarely.  Why is that?  And why are people so resistant to it?

In any case, I had a great time playing the new songs with my band and getting to meet some new folks (Jamie and his crew were some of the nicest peeps ever)  and especially, playing the fucking 9:30 club in Washington D.C.  I really should do a whole blog post just about this place.  I have never played a better venue. Better in every way.  Good sound?  Check.  Great staff?  Check.  Treated like a human being and not just like the the opening act slime?  Check.  God, the people that run that place deserve to be knighted or something.  When we were leaving, Jon Langmead who plays drums in my band said….”I wish I could live here.”  Seriously, that’s how great this place and the people who run it are.  

Ok, so here’s some of my fave photos from the tour.  If you’d like to see (many) more, you can go to my myspace page where I just uploaded way, way more than you’d probably ever like to see.

Me and Michael Brodlieb (bass) in the van en route to Chicago:

Lidell & crew soundcheck at Bowery:

Set list, big and little:

The back of Chris Lombardi (and us on stage at Bowery):

Ladies and gentlemen, Jon Langmead on drums:

feeling it:

flashing lights:

That’s it!  More soon….

Love, JO’C

(photograph by Debora Francis)

The most gratifying thing about our feverish preparations for the August 19 release of Jennifer O’Connor’s masterpiece ‘Here With Me’ (LP/CD)?  With the possible exception of the chef Chris had flown in to prepare company lunches*, the best part so far has been the reactions from the lucky few who’ve heard the album.  If I had a nickel for every person who has called or written to say “wow, you guys were right.  Jennifer is a world-class, pop songwriting powerhouse”…well, I still wouldn’t have enough money to buy a copy of Entertainment Weekly. But keep in mind, they keep raising the prices of these magazines and you can read ‘em online, anyway. 

“Here With Me” is the 2nd MP3 we’ve chosen to leak from the album. Between this and the previously sneak-peaked “Valley Road ’86″, we’re hopeful you’ll have a better idea why we’ve only gotten started making noise about Jennifer’s crazy reservoir of talent.

Jennifer will be headlining New York’s Mercury Lounge on August 21, with support coming from Dump. Tickets go on sale June 25.  Here’s a full list of upcoming dates : 

July 11 – The Slowdown, Omaha, NE
July 12 – Box Awesome, Lincoln, NE
July 13 – Record Bar, Kansas City, MO
July 14 – Mojo’s, Columbia, MO
July 15 – Schuba’s, Chicago, IL
July 17 – Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines, IA
July 19 – Aquarium Dempsey’s, Upstairs, Fargo, ND
July 20 – Nuttys’ North, SIoux Falls, SD
August 10 – Grand Opera House, Wilmington DE
August 13 – McCarren Pool, Brooklyn NY 
August 25 – Mercury Lounge, NY NY
 
(July 11-15, July 19-20 supporting Son Ambulance)
(August 10, 13, supporting Wilco)

(preorder ‘Here With Me’ on LP or CD)

* – sorry. I hallucinated that we’d done an office swap with Revolver Distribution.  

Hello Everyone!

I fully expected to do another one of these record store visits sooner, but long drives chasing the Jamie Lidell tour bus kept us from record store adventure #2 until yesterday in the lovely city of Philadelphia.  

We decided on A.K.A. Music after having it recommended to us on various occasions.  Max was working the counter and he gave us some very useful information.

JO’C: How long have you been working here?

Max: Almost 2 years.

JO’C: What’s your favorite new release?

Max: Well, it’s not “new”, but I like the Rayne reissue.

JO’C: (Confused look)

Max: They were a late 70′s garage band.

JO’C: Cool. Where do you like to listen to music?

Max: At home.

JO’C: And what is your preferred format?

Max: Vinyl.

JO’C: Finally, where’s your favorite place to eat in Philly?

Max: Good question. John’s Roast Pork on Delaware Avenue. They have great pork sandwiches and great cheesesteaks too.

JO’C: Thanks Max!

I would also like to note that A.K.A. has a really great bargain bin used cd selection. I got a bunch of greatest hits discs for 2.99 – New Order, Kinks Kronicles, and some weird Prince Greatest Hits I hadn’t seen before. Also a Massive Attack soundtrack and a disc by the Departure Lounge that I didn’t have. I would have spent many hours combing through it if we’d had more time.

PS. I’ll do a blog sometime soon about the actual shows we’ve been playing!

Hi Matablog Readers!

I started a tour today supporting Jamie Lidell and I’m in Chicago at the Abbey Pub awaiting soundcheck. Because I enjoyed participating in Record Store Day so much earlier this year, I’ve decided to visit local record stores in some of the cities we are playing and find out the answers to some important questions. This is my way of continuing to celebrate all the awesome record stores throughout the country. 

Today, we went to Reckless Records in Wicker Park and talked with Dan.

JO’C: How long have you worked at Reckless?

Dan: About 4 years.

JO’C: What did you have for lunch?

Dan: A chicken flatbread sandwich from 7-11.

JO’C: Do you have favorite restaurant in the area?

Dan: I’m not really a foodie, but I like this Middle Eastern place down the street called Sultan’s Market.

JO’C: Do you have a favorite record of all-time and if so, what is it?

Dan: Hmmmm……

JO’C: Am I putting you on the spot? We can come back to this one.

Dan: Ok, let’s come back to it.

JO’C: What record are you guys selling a lot of this week?

Dan: The new Portishead.

JO’C: Any thoughts on your fave record yet?

Dan: I’ll say Daydream Nation, but if you ask me tomorrow, it might be something else.

JO’C: Fair enough. Anything you’d like to add, that you’d like the Matablog readers to know?

Dan: I don’t think so.

JO’C: Ok. Thanks for talking to me. I think those are all the hard-hitting questions I have.

Ok! Tomorrow is Toronto and if we have time….we’ll be hitting up a store there too.

JO’C, record-store-reporter, signing off.

xox

Amazing songs! Generous discounts! A snazzy poster! The feeling that you’re part of something much bigger than yourself!

Well, we’ve got the first 3 covered. Jennifer’s fantastic new LP/CD ‘Here With Me’ is out August 19 but you’re gonna feel so much better if you preorder it from the Matador store, trust me.

“Valley Road ’86″ (mp3)

As we feverishly prepare for the 8/19 release of Jennifer O’Connor’s ‘Here With Me’ LP/CD, we’re pleased to announce that along with upcoming dates supporting Jamie Lidell and Son Ambulance, Jennifer is playing with Wilco on the following evenings :

Sun 8/10 Wilmington, DE 7pm The Grand Opera House
Wed 8/13 Brooklyn, NY Doors 5pm McCarren Park Pool

In addition, “Hopeful” from Jennifer’s fantastic 2nd album, ‘The Color & The Light”, is featured in the upcoming motion picture, “The Strangers”, starring Liv Tyler and loads of freakish people wearing masks and wielding knives. The movie opens May 30, “only in theatres” as they like to say in the TV commericals.

“Valley Road ’86″ (mp3, from ‘Here With Me’)

The pop landscape has been littered with nu Dylans, old Janis Ians (eg. Janis Ian) and any number of generational spokesmodels, troubled troubadours and assholes with bad pompadours.  And those are just the good parts of my record collection.

Occasionally, somebody not only sticks out from the pack, but manages for the space of 3 minutes or 45, to make you forget there is a pack. To make you forget that said (wacky) packs even exist.  At the risk of scaring you with my crude, and poorly taped-up hyperbole stick, I submit that not only is Jennifer O’Connor that kind of artist, but that within a matter of months, you’ll be the one hassling your friends about how fantastic her 4th album is rather than me.  I’ll have already done so.

Jennifer recorded her new LP/CD ‘Here With Me’ (OLE 787-1,2earlier this year with John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth) at Brooklyn’s Headgear Studios.  It’s a breezier, more upbeat work than 2006′s fantastic ‘Over The Mountain, Across The Valley and Back To The Stars’, but I’d be lying if I told you the new album packed any less of an emotional wallop.  Jennifer’s songs have never before sounded this crafted, or hit the listener with such immediacy.

Backed by a crack backing trio of Jon Langmead, Michael Broadlieb and Michael Strandberg (and joined, briefly, by Hold Steady keyboardist Franz Nicolay), O’Connor tackles her most evocative pile of relationship-tunes with something approaching surgical precision.  Over the past 6 years, Jennifer’s gotten scary good at this sort of thing, so much so that most other contenders for the hypothetical Nobel prize for Witty Pop Songs W/ Heart are either former members of this label’s roster (we’re thinking Manning/Phair/Daniel but if you wanna nominate someone more contemporary, please go right ahead) or they’ve already been embalmed in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Jennifer has a bunch of tour dates planned for this summer (see below) with more to come throughout 2008. In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll be selectively previewing more of ‘Here With Me’, along with some exclusive video content.  Until then, here’s the first MP3 from the forthcoming LP/CD, “Valley Road ’86″.

june 4            Chicago, IL                   Abbey Pub
june 5             Toronto, ON                  Opera House
june 6             Ottowa, ON                 Babylon
june 7             Boston, MA                 Paradise
june 8             New York, NY             Bowery Ballroom
june 9              New York, NY             Bowery Ballroom
june 11         Philadelphia, PA         World Cafe
june 12          Washington, D.C.     9:30 Club

(above dates supporting Jamie Lidell)

july 13        Kansas City, MO        Record Bar
july 14        Columbia, MO
july 18        Minneapolis, MN        Uptown Bar
july 19        Fargo, ND            Aquarium/Dempseys Upstairs
july 20        Sioux Falls, SD        Nutty’s North

(above dates supporting Son Ambulance)

Last week, Dump made a rare live appearance at Maxwell’s.  I took a photo as proof.  Regarding the 7″ Gerard so kindly posted about below, you can also get it on the Dump myspace page and in the Matador Store! Love,Jennifer 

shown above, the latest 7″ from Jennifer’s own Kiam label :   Jennifer O’Connor – “I Was A Race Car Driver”, b/w “I Was So Wrong” (Dump remix) and Dump’s version of Rose Royce’s “I Wanna Get Next To You”.  Sleeve art by Mr. James McNew, all copies on beautiful white wax.  Jennifer’s peddling these gems for $5 (+ $2 for U.S. shipping), with full details available at the Kiam MySpace page.

Jennifer O’Connor stopped by our office and gave us a message of love and hope regarding Record Store Day and indie retail. Check out some other Matador artists pitching in for Record Store Day this Saturday the 19th.

I’m sitting on the couch at Headgear with my new record almost finished. It took 12 days total. 2 mixes to go and we’ll be done. I’m totally sick and need to spend a few days in bed and John got his car broken into last night. So, the last couple of days have been a little bumpy. But when all is said and done (which will be soon), it will have been completely worth it.

We’ve had so much fun making this record and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

Here’s a few more pics for ya. Have a Happy Easter!

Tracking:

Peeps:

2 inch to 1/2 inch, yo:

Me and my new best friend, John Agnello, in the delirium of day 12:

Love, love, love

Jennifer O’Connor

Day 6 at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn with Mr. John Agnello at the helm. What have we accomplished so far? All the tracking and vocals (live, mind you), some sick guitar overdubs, and a whole lot of fun-having. We’ve got a week to go including mixing.

Here’s some pics:

Mr. Agnello and Mr. Michael Brodlieb (bass)

Me and Mike Strandberg (guitar):

DRUMS!(Jon Langmead):

Supplies:

Another update coming soon.

Love,

Jennifer

I’ll be doing some love songs of my own and some covers tonight with my favorite lady Amy Bezunartea at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. We go on around 11pm, but the whole thing starts at 9pm. It’s free and should be wildly entertaining.

Love,

Jennifer O’Connor

PS. Check out my myspace blog for some pics of my recent tour of California.

Prior to hitting the studio in March, Jennifer O’Connor has the following shows confirmed.  She’d love to see you there and so would we – and we’ve got closed circuit cameras installed in most of the venues, so that old trick of “I was standing in the back” isn’t going to work this time.

Jan 12 – Big Orbit’s Soundlab, Buffalo NY (with Jax DeLuca)
Jan 18 – Black Cat, Washington DC
Jan 19 – World Cafe Downstairs, Philadelphia, PA
Feb 2 – Paradise, Boston MA
Feb 7 – The Independent, San Francisco CA
Feb 8 – Troubador, Los Angeles CA
Feb 9 – The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Feb 10 – Belly Up’s Tavern, San Diego CA

1/18-2/10 are supporting Rhett Miller.  In addition, Ms. O’Connor will be playing the Love Hangover show at Pete’s Candy Shop on February 15 with Amy Bezunartea

(pic taken from Hideindoors’ Flickr page)

The Tampa Bay Center For The Performing Arts’ Jaeb Theatre, to be exact.  Wish we were there…and not merely because it’s freezing here.

WPRB’s Jon Solomon forwards the following :

See the nice lady above these words? Her name is Jennifer O’Connor and she had a record out on Matador last year that was one of my favorite releases of 2006.

Ps. Anyone want to pony up for Jennifer to cover “The Death Of Pop” by The Rub?

Jennifer O'Connor will be playing a free in-store this Thursday, August 16th at the newly renovated Lounge at Sound Fix Records in Brooklyn.  She is set to play at 9:15 that evening.

Jennifer O'Connor at Sound Fix Records
Thursday, 8/16 @ 9:15pm
110 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY

This weekend, I will embark upon a mini-tour (ok, it's 2 shows) in Massachussetts. First off will be the fantastic-5-band-bill-for-10-bucks PA's Lounge show on Friday August 3. (See totally awesome poster by Ian Adams above).

This show was originally booked as a celebration of the split 7" that I put out with Choo Choo La Rouge (my best pals in band land) – but its blossomed into much more. Make sure you come early to check out my friends Clint, Michigan & Amy Bezunartea. And I can't begin to say how excited I am to be sharing a bill with Chris Brokaw. I've seen him solo a few times (and with Come many times back in the day, including a Nirvana/The Breeders/Come show at The Omni in Atlanta!!!!)

Saturday we venture out to Martha's Vineyard to play at Aboveground Records. It's a very cool record store run by the same folks who run A Whale of a Label.

The JO'C band this weekend will be the duo of me on vox and gtr and Jon on drums.

And just for fun, below is a photo of us playing at the East River Amphitheatre last weekend. Miwa took this from the very top center of the back row.

Have a great week and I hope to see all you New Englanders this weekend.

Love JO'C

Hello Matablog readers: I'm playing a FREE Venus Zine sponsored show this weekend on Saturday, July 28 at the East River Ampitheatre. That's at Cherry Street and the East River, not 23rd Street as I previously and erroneously reported on my Myspace blog. This will be a full-band style show and we'll be playing some new stuff that we are gearing up to record for the next record as well as some older jams. The show starts at 2pm and we go on around 4:30!! 

(pic taken from The Wrongway's Flickr page)

Wednesday night, May 23rd, part four of the Living Room Rez will be in full effect. As usual, I go on at 11pm. Tonight will be a duo show with Mr. Jon Langmead on drums. We got new jamz, old jamz, fast jamz, and slow jamz. At 10pm, The Naysayer will be making a RARE appearance. You must see Ms. Padgett and co while you can. I'm not sure who else is in her band this night but I know Mr. Matt Sutton (who plays with me sometimes) will be featured on guitar. He's sick. Love, JO'C The Living Room is at 154 Ludlow Street between Stanton & Rivington.

PS. If you are free on Tuesday night, make your way over to Mo Pitkins to see Amy Bezunartea & Larry Krone at 9pm and Clint, Michigan at 10pm. Amy and Clint are great artists who will (sometime in the nearish future) be putting out records on my KIAM label

Jennifer O'Connor's Wednesday night residency series at the Living Room kicks off on May 2, a night that will serve as a record release show for her split 7" with Choo Choo La Rogue. There's also a drawing for a $50 iTunes giftcard, but even you non-materialistic types would be foolish not to turn up. 

Jennifer O'Connor is currently on the road winning hearts and minds (you can find out where HERE), but even with her heroically busy schedule she may not be coming to a town near you. If that's the case, what better way to get to know this criminally overlooked practioner of the singing and songwriting arts than through her Matador debut, "Over The Mountain, Across The Valley and Back To The Stars"? Especially when Matador HQ is throwing in a free download of her recent digital ep, "Another Side of Jennifer O'Connor." This four song ep starts off with a great cover of Bob Dylan's "To Ramona" and moves on to 3 originals, including the unexpectedly rocking (and expectedly awesome) "(Take Me On A Ride Around The) Sun."

Just order "Over The Mountain, Across The Valley and Back To The Stars," and within 24 hours, we'll email you a unique code to access the EP!

(from The Wrong Way's Flikr page, photo used without permission)

Jennifer O'Connor's 3rd album proper, 'Over the Mountain, Across the Valley, and Back to the Stars' remains one of '06's finest, most criminally overlooked works.  Because Jennifer isn't the type to hold a grudge (not like some people), she'll be giving you yet another chance to catch the boat you're in danger of missing with her following shows in support of Kevin Devine.

January
24-Middletown, Connecticut @  Wesleyan University
25-Buffalo, NY @ Mowhawk Place
26-Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
27-Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop2
9-Toronto, ONT @ Lee's Palace
30-Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
31-Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection

February
1-Bloomington, IN @ WIUX Indiana University
2-Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
3-Madison, WI @ The Annex
4-Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
6-Ames, IA @ Iowa State University
7-Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
8-Columbia, MO @ Mojo's
9-St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
10-Urbana, IL @ Canopy Club
11-Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley
13-Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
14-Athens, GA @ 40 Watt
15-Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
16-Washington DC @ The Rock and Roll Hotel
17-New York, NY @ The Knitting Factory
21-Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian
22-Boston, MA @ Great Scott
23-Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
24-Hamden, CT @ The Space

In addition, you can catch Jennifer, sans Mr. Devine, on the following dates :

December 29 – New World Brewery, Tampa, FL
January 5 – Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
January 10 – The Living Room, NYC, NY (with Anders Parker)

(photograph by Jeremiah Garcia, used without permission)

Apologies for the last minute nature of this message, but I've been engrossed in reading about the deep, dark dangers of SOY. (link courtesy Craig Stewart).  NYC readers are advised that JENNIFER O'CONNOR is performing tonight at Happy Ending (302 Broome Street, between Forsyth and Eldridge) as part of that lovely establishment's Music and Reading Series.  Also appearing are Chris Leo and Marcellus Hall.  Doors open at 7pm and the readings/performances begin at 8pm.  I'd love to be there, but I've got several dozen boxes of soy products I have to bring to the dump. 

Y'know, Paste might be a bunch of Wes Anderson-loving, Yep Rock-smooching bunch of Christ Humpers, but when they're right, they're right. 

eMusic is now selling an exclusive EP called "Another Side of Jennifer O'Connor". As you might have guessed, it starts off with a cover of Dylan's "To Ramona" and features 3 brand, spanking new songs.  This is being released to commemorate Jennifer's performance tomorrow night at the Bob Dylan tribute concert at Lincoln Center in New York City.  She'll be joined by both Ramblin' Jack Elliot and an able back-up singer by the name of Patti Smith to perform "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".   The event is a benefit for Music for Youth and complete details here.  Here's the tracklisting:

1. To Ramona
2. I Never Loved You
3. Waste My Time
4. (Take Me On A Ride Around The) Sun

Click here to get it (requires a subscription).

(from left to right : JOC, live at Tampa's Vinyl Fever, crap bass player)

Jennifer O'Connor will be performing at "The Music Of Bob Dylan" tribute November 9 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. If the repitoire alone doesn't impress you, check out some of the other scheduled acts: Patti Smith, Cat Power, Philip Glass, The Roots, Allen Toussaint, Bob Mould, Ryan Adams, Phil Lesh, Jay Farrar, Lee Ranaldo, Roseanne Cash –Heady company indeed!

Jennifer will be playing a duet with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who some of you might know as the famous friend of Woody Guthrie who isn't Pete Seeger. All the details you could possibly want are at this link.