I spent last Sunday afternoon at an empty Rhode Island cove, standing on frigid sand in my bulky winter boots and peacoat, breathing in the salty sea, being blasted by the January wind, watching a lone gull chill out with the seaweed. And I found myself singing the hook from “Beach Day,” a single by local band Kalliope Jones; their kiss-off “see ya” song is catchy no matter what season you visit the shore.
Kalliope Jones teams up with Northampton band Sodada for a show at Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Friday, January 10, at 8 p.m.
“Beach Day” has a funky laid-back vibe, kind of like Luscious Jackson meets Edie Brickell’s New Bohemians, with a fun outro where the bass line gets vertigo and the mood changes, kind of like vaudeville noir. The single came out last summer, and it wasn’t Kalliope Jones’ only release of the year — the trio of vocalist/drummer Alouette Batteau, vocalist/bassist Amelia Chalfant and vocalist/guitarist Isabella DeHerdt started off 2019 with a new six-song EP called Bubblegum Heart.
Sodada also put out a new single last year, “Roots,” a soulful slow jam with the ominous chorus “We’re fine / we’re on fire,” which calls to mind the now-everywhere “dog sipping coffee in a burning house” meme. The band, which includes Hannah Rose on vocals/guitar/keyboards, Andy C on guitar/bass, and Nate Mondschein on drums, said the song “began as a meditation on life cycles and ended as a response to the political and ecological state of the world.”
Both bands’ releases are available on their respective Bandcamp pages.
Boston-based reggae/jam band Long Arm Rex appears at Progression Brewing Company in Northampton on Friday, January 10, at 8:30 p.m. Free show.
Crooked Coast is a Cape Cod band that blends indie rock, hip hop, reggae and more, and they play Bishop’s Lounge in Northampton on Friday, January 10, at 10 p.m.
Katherine First and Kitchen Party (in which the fiddler and friends play favorite traditional music from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Cape Breton and beyond) fill the room with tunes at Bread Euphoria Bakery and Cafe in Haydenville on Saturday, January 11, at 5:30 p.m.
Singer/songwriters Hoonah (aka Sarah Smith), Anthony Savino and Hayley Sabella perform sets at The 413 in Easthampton on Saturday, January 11, at 7 p.m.
The Green Sisters (“from bluegrass to barbershop to blues to Celtic to originals of all styles”) play the Wendell Full Moon Coffee House at the Old Town Hall in Wendell on Saturday, January 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Spanish for Hitchhiking and Ex-Temper team up for a local indie rock double-bill at Progression Brewing Company in Northampton on Saturday, January 11, at 8:30 p.m.
Matt Valentine’s new album Preserves has been called “a perfect private-press freak-out record for an era of Internet anxiety and climate-change dread,” and he’ll share a bill with Willie Lane and Head of Wantastiquet at 10Forward in Greenfield on Saturday, January 11, at 9 p.m.
Jake Klar (Northampton singer/songwriter), Laura Wolf (New Haven cellist/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist making dreamy and experimental pop), Ciarra Fragale (self-described “glitzy indie pop gal” from NY), and Groundskeeper (Northampton outfit with new album Ghost Things) are at 10Forward in Greenfield on Sunday, January 12, at 8 p.m.
It’s a tribute to the late Dizzy Gillespie at this week’s Northampton Jazz Workshop, featuring local trumpeter Cicci Santucci and NYC saxophonist Sarah Hanahan guesting with the Green Street Trio, at City Sports Grille inside Spare Time Northampton on Tuesday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m. The open jazz jam follows at 8:30 p.m.
Steve Forbert (best known for his 1979 radio classic “Romeo’s Tune”) got a Walk of Fame star in his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi last spring, and the singer/songwriter returns to the Iron Horse in Northampton on Thursday, January 16, at 7 p.m. Dennis Brennan opens.
Vocalist/trumpeter Shamarr Allen hails from New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward, and he and his band the Underdawgs bring their mix of funk, rock, hip hop, jazz and more to the Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, on Thursday, January 16, at 8 p.m.
Locals The Demographic and The Immolators team up with squirrelly and skronky New Bedford-based post-punk band Picniclunch (their new record “Yor Boy” came out a couple months ago) for a triple-bill at the Sierra Grille in Northampton on Thursday, January 16, at 10 p.m.
Ken Maiuri can be reached at tunedincolumn@gmail.com.