Frank Padellaro and TW Walsh (pictured) first collaborated in 1999, and this weekend, the two longtime friends and songwriters are singing together for the first time in more than fifteen years.
They’ve put together a multi-generational mash-up triple-bill that includes Padellaro’s group King Radio, TW Walsh, and the new band Whale Watch (which features Walsh’s teenage sons), with members of one act sitting in with the other; at the Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton on Friday at 8 p.m.
Padellaro and Walsh collaborated on Walsh’s first two solo albums (1999’s “How We Spend Our Days” and 2001’s “Blue Laws”), after which they headed out on a springtime tour (joined by Dave Trenholm on guitar and this writer on drums), performing at bars and art galleries and even the deck outside of a midwestern burrito joint.
Part of the Luthier’s show will feature Walsh, Padellaro, Trenholm and King Radio drummer Paul Pelis (who played on the 1999 album) together again, playing some of those unhurried and hypnotic early songs, quiet blasts from the past.
“Kudos for the Player” is a pretty and weary miniature that opens with the line, “I wish everyone would retire / or at least go in late every once in a while.” “Old Fashioned Way of Speaking” has a chorus that begins “If it was permanent / the world would mean a whole lot less”; it’s a sadly gorgeous tune that slowly builds to an epic end.
Walsh will also perform some songs with his sons, as well as sit in for part of King Radio’s set.
Padellaro’s King Radio, now with a solid lineup that features keyboardist/vocalist Brandi Ediss, has found a perfect balance between the rock of its early days and the highly arranged pop of its more recent phase, with harmonies, glockenspiel, flute and sleigh bells coloring songs like the chipper “Dead and Gone,” the gently powerful “Meet the Maker,” and Ediss’ emotionally potent “Count To Three.”
It’s a rare opportunity to see Walsh perform live (an infrequent activity for the busy engineer-dad, who just released a brand-new solo LP, “Terrible Freedom”), and also to see these past collaborators share a stage again.
The Wendell Reggae Fest includes Denroy Morgan (right), Rhythm Inc., Rebelle, Total Collision and more at the Deja Brew Cafe and Pub in Wendell on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Americana Roots Rock Festival happens at the Root Cellar in Greenfield on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with a lineup that includes (from early to late) Eric Lee, Dez Roy, And The Neighbors, Fancy Trash, Treefort, Rocky Roberts & Friends, The Medicinal Purpose and Easthampton Savings Band. Small acoustic sets take place on the patio between bands.
The musically diverse Providence-based brass band What Cheer? Brigade headlines a summery lakeside celebration at the Ashfield Lake House on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Hot Club of Cowtown have mixed western swing and hot jazz for nearly two decades, and the original lineup (vocalist/violinist Elana James, vocalist/guitarist Whit Smith and bass man Jake Erwin) is still going strong. They’ll return to the area for an upbeat gig at The Iron Horse on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Twangtown Paramours are the Nashville-based husband-and-wife acoustic duo Mike Lewis and MaryBeth Zamer, and they’ll play their harmony-filled folk/Americana songs at the 1794 Meetinghouse in New Salem on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Mystics Anonymous (9:30 p.m.) share a night with Salvation Alley String Band (8 p.m.) and Tawdry (7 p.m.) at the Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton on Saturday. No cover charge, but performer tips are appreciated.
The Chandler Travis Three-O brings its quirky and heartfelt pop to the Dream Away Lodge in Becket on Sunday at 8 p.m.
Rootsy rockabilly-influenced locals Li’l Bee Dee & the Doo-Rites (pictured at right) perform on the Forbes Library lawn in Northampton on Wednesday at 7 p.m. “Bring a picnic, bring a blanket, bring the kids!” If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the concert will be moved indoors to the Coolidge Museum on the second floor of Forbes Library.