Picking Tunes and Telling Tales with SECRET EMCHY SOCIETY, DEAN THOMAS, and ROBERT REX WALLER JR & PAUL LACQUES - hosted by YOURS TRULY, MICHELE

Join the infamous Dean Thomas (Levi & the Rockats, The Cousin Lovers), the first lady of queer country Cindy Emch (Secret Emchy Society, Vagabondage, Rhubarb Whiskey), Robert Rex Waller Jr & Paul Lacques (I See Hawks In LA) and hostess torch song singer Michele Kappel (Yours Truly, Michele, Heartache Sisters, Kirby Grips, Tippy Canoe) for an intimate night of rootsy americana music on Feb 22. It’s going to be a boot stompin’ heart breakin’ super twang line up of tall tales and cowboy songs at Stories Books & Cafe not to be missed.

Feb 22, 2018

7:30pm

Dean Thomas, Secret Emchy Society, and Robert Rex Waller Jr & Paul Lacques

Host: Yours Truly, Michele

Stories Books & Cafe

1716 W Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA

SECRET EMCHY SOCIETY

Cindy Emch from Oakland, CA is the “Emchy” at the heart of the “Secret Emchy Society.” She writes and performs cowboy songs, drinking tunes, and old-school country music. In 2017 she was named by Huffington Post as the “First Lady of Queer Country,” by TheBoot.com as one of the Top 10 Queer Country Artists to check out for REAL country music fans, and had her 2017 debut album listed by the Atlanta Auditory Association as on of the top 50 of the year. As a fixture of seminal Bay-area Americana-inflected bands such as Vagabondage, Rhubarb Whiskey and The Oakland Wine Drinker’s Union, and former Accordion Babe, Emch is touring to support her new album ‘The Stars Fall Shooting Into Twangsville’ which was recorded in Victoria, BC and features Carolyn Mark, Tolan McNeil, Grayson Walker, and more.  

"Songs which could be used to score a romantic montage for Bonnie and Clyde.” Now This Sound Is Brave

“An irresistible, rebellious combination of swinging honky-tonk, tear-jerking ballads and danceable zydeco with a dose of theatrical and cabaret-like elements.” - AltCountryForum

http://www.emchy.com

DEAN THOMAS

Dean Thomas is a virtuoso guitarist featuring a unique rapid-fire flat-picking style similar to Doc Watson. He brings his finely honed country and bluegrass songs, vivid storytelling, distinctive picking, and matchless warmth to his new solo project. This Louisville, Kentucky native burst onto the rock-a-billy and blues scene as the drummer of the explosive London bred, Sun Records charged Levi & the Rockats. These wild men initially created fireworks in New York City and then lit up the Hollywood sky leading to national late night TV appearances. He lived at the famed Tropicana Motel and was friends with Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones, Chuck Weiss, and Stiv Bators, and worked as a session musician at Universal Records, recording with The Payne Brothers and many more. Moving to San Francisco, he worked with Chris Issac and Pearl Harbor. He was active on both sides of the Bay with Oakland blues players including Sonny Rhodes, Mel Brown, and Luther Tucker, where he honed the art of blues guitar. Returning to L.A., he worked with acclaimed producer Jon Brion, master violinist Lili Haydn, Jude, Nan Vernon, Love Jones, and The Wild Colonials.  In 1995 he met virtuoso country singer Tim Ferguson and founded the infamous alt-bluegrass band The Cousin Lovers, who warmed up crowds for Johnny Cash and George Jones and played with Charlie Louvin and Randy Travis. Over the years he also dove deep into high-octane, hard bop jazz drumming and was an influential flashpoint for jazz improvisation in Southern California as the coordinator of a widely respected Sunday Jam Session.

http://deanthomas365.com

ROBERT REX WALLER JR. & PAUL LACQUES

"Their songs are rife with mournful social commentary, environmental tragedy, wily humor, outsider guile, and political undercurrent. Seldom has there been an album with such joyous music-making, such corrosive, acid-etched lyrics." - No Depression

Robert Rex Waller Jr and Paul Lacques are seminal members of I See Hawks in LA. Formed in 1999 by Rob Waller and brothers Paul and Anthony Lacques during a philosophical discussion and rock throwing session on an East Mojave desert trek, I See Hawks In L.A. first gathered on the front porch in Echo Park, drank whiskey and wrote their first batch of songs and then sought advice from local country rock guru David Jackson, bassist with John Denver, Dillard and Clark, and EmmyLou Harris. On their recent album - in reaching back to pre-electric traditions, the Hawks seem to have tapped into the mortality that looms in the work of Hank Williams, The Stanley Brothers, and the Carter Family, far from the feel-good suburbiana of today’s Nashville songwriting. Dark times do need some kind of acknowledgement. I See Hawks In L.A. have taken this on.

http://www.iseehawks.com

YOURS TRULY, MICHELE

Yours Truly, Michele, may best capture the heady mix of influences and experiences she can bring to any party simply by showing up. With a sound infused with 60s pop, shadowy torch songs, and touched by Americana Roots-Rock, it is truly Michele Kappel’s own brand of music. She co-founded the Garage-Pop Alt Rock band The Kirby Grips (Sympathy For The Record Industry), performing behind the drum kit on national stages including at Noise Pop and CMJ. When The Kirby Grips paused for an indefinite amount of time, Kappel created ukulele-toting folk pop artist Tippy Canoe and started writing her own melody-rich songs, inspired by influences as diverse as Squeeze, Ray Price, and the Spector Wall of Sound. More recently, Kappel incarnated as one-half of the close-harmony, country-tinged, impeccably decked out duo, Heartache Sisters and was behind the drum kit with classic country band Laura Benitez & the Heartache. YTM, however, puts Kappel’s style, substance and well-honed musical sensibilities front and center. “No matter your mood, you’ll walk away with a smile. It’s cheaper than therapy." Tony DuShane at The San Francisco Chronicle wrote of a YTM performance, which by turns can evoke Debbie Harry, Erin McKeown, and Patsy Cline. 

“No matter your mood, you’ll walk away with a smile. It’s cheaper than therapy." - SF Chronicle

http://michelekappel.com

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