Recording: Jale (almost)

Artist: Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie (with Joe Pernice and Norman Blake)

Songs: All Ready + Sign of Life + Promise [Jale covers]

Recorded at The Dakota Tavern, April 10, 2015.

Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie - All Ready

Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie - Sign of Life

Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie - Promise

Something quite awesome came up in the middle of this Joe Pernice/Norman Blake gig, when Pernice invited his wife Laura Stein along with Jennifer Pierce onto the stage. With Sadies/New Mendicants drummer Mike Belitsky already playing, suddenly three-quarters of great Can-indie band Jale were together on stage.¹ This might not be a big deal to everyone, but it was quite surely a Big Deal to a few folks of the right age. When they hit the first few notes of "All Ready", my heart melted, and for the next ten minutes it felt almost like I was back at the West End Cultural Centre in '95 (where I indeed saw the band play a pretty excellent set alongside The Inbreds and Superfriendz). Michael McKenzie is adding the lead-guitar power here, and Pernice and Blake were along for moral support, except for on "Promise", where they both stepped off the stage to head over to the bar.

[No guarantees that there will be more of this on offer, but the very excellent Joe Pernice/Norman Blake residency continues tonight (April 17th) at the Dakota as well as next week (April 24th). Pernice did mention that they were trying to put together another show "with this lineup" some time in September, so Jale fans should keep their eyes open.]

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¹ Didacticists would not be wrong to note that this was, more precisely, a reunion of The Vees.

Recording: Joe Pernice & Norman Blake

Artist: Joe Pernice & Norman Blake

Songs: Dark and Lonely Night + Sarasota [feat. Bob Pernice]

Recorded at The Dakota Tavern, April 10, 2015.

Joe Pernice & Norman Blake - Dark and Lonely Night

Joe Pernice & Norman Blake - Sarasota

When Joe Pernice and Norman Blake announced a weekly residency (every Friday this month), I presumed it would be something quite like their previous New Mendicants gigs at The Dakota — casual, acoustic sit-down affairs, with the pair trading off songs and stories, and with the whole thing wrapping up early enough that Pernice could still catch the last few innings of the Red Sox game. And, indeed, the first of two sets on this night did follow that template, before some increased rockin' out took over for the second. Backed by guitarist Michael McKenzie and Sadies drummer Mike Belitisky, Joe's brother Bob Pernice had also come up for the evening, and popped on and off stage to add guitar and vox (and in the case of "Sarasota", synth-string effects from an iPad app) as well as some brotherly give-and-take. That led to a fairly delightful mix of tunes, some nifty cover choices (Tom T. Hall!) as well as a mini-Jale reunion. (!!) It's pretty staggering to think one can just drop in and see such a wonderfully casual show as this, like hanging out in a friend's basement as they bash out song after song (but they just happen to be, like, Pernice Brothers and Teenage Fanclub songs).

[The Joe Pernice/Norman Blake residency continues tonight (April 17th) at the Dakota as well as next week (April 24th).]

Recording: The New Mendicants

Artist: The New Mendicants

Songs: She's Gone + Finding You [The Go-Betweens cover]

Recorded at The Dakota Tavern, August 26, 2013.

The New Mendicants - She's Gone

The New Mendicants - Finding You

Full review to follow. Although Norman Blake (of Teenage Fanclub) and Joe Pernice (of the Pernice Brothers) might have different fanbases, they have some things in common, both being top-shelf pop craftsmen who happen to be expats in Toronto. It also turns out that their voices combine in a rather terrific way, so an ad hoc partnership has lead to this new group, now rounded out by The Sadies' Mike Belitsky on drums. Relying on acoustic guitars, some glockenspiel, and hushed percussion, it's an intimate affair, well-suited to a storytelling sit-down sort of show. The pair traded off songs, both from the project's forthcoming album and their own back catalogs, with a few covers thrown in as well.