We’re up to our knees in it now, people — “it” being September. My Red Sox anxiety level is elevating as each day grows a bit shorter. But there’s nothing like a live music infusion to cure whatever ails you, so here are four shows to choose from:
Guitarist Nina Schmir and pianist Anna Dagmar are a pair of singer-songwriters performing at Blue tonight. Before going solo, Portlander Schmir started off singing in pubs in the south of France as part of a folk/country duo. Her influences are both American and European, and she’s got a knack for writing dark lyrics with cheery, pop melodies.
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Dagmar, a New Yorker who was born in the U.K., also flavors her music with European spice. She received five awards in the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest, has had airplay on more than 100 stations nationwide (reaching No. 6 on the National Roots Music Report), and is in the midst of making her fourth album.
Schmir and Dagmar met as members of a women’s music collective in NYC. In addition to their concert, they will perform live on WMPG (90.9/104.1 FM) this morning between 8:30 and 10:30.
Anna Dagmar and Nina Schmir. 8 tonight. Blue, 650A Congress St., Portland. No cover. All ages. portcityblue.com
“All the Brighter” is the debut CD from Portland-born fiddler and singer Lauren Rioux. She’s celebrating its release with a show at One Longfellow Square.
I’ve been spinning “All the Brighter” at my desk for the better part of three weeks, and find it to be an enchanting, thoughtful and musically satiating dozen songs.
“Hosses in the Canebreak,” a traditional Kentucky tune, starts the album off on a blithesome note as Rioux’s fiddle melds with a second from Crooked Still’s Brittany Haas and with Darol Anger’s violin. Local mandolin player Joe Walsh wrote the next song, “One Does What One Can,” and his playing, along with Lincoln Meyers’ guitar and Rioux’s fiddle, make for a sweet, hopeful tune.
“Music Tree” introduces Rioux’s vocals, which also can be heard on three other “Brighter” tracks, including Cole Porter’s “Miss Otis Regrets.” Her honey-sweet voice doesn’t overwhelm, but rather acts as another instrument among the flurry of assorted strings. The other song I’ll mention among the loveliness of this CD is the Rioux-penned instrumental “The Beryline Savante,” which features cellist Mike Block.
All in all, “All the Brighter” is a well-mixed and well-produced CD with an old-time feel, but also a sense of nowness. Rioux stands firmly on the string music map, and with “All the Brighter,” she’ll continue to divide and conquer. Nicely done.
Lauren Rioux CD-release show. 8 p.m. Friday. One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland. $15, $18; onelongfellowsquare.com
What Cheer? Brigade is a 19-piece brass marching band from Providence, R.I. I wonder if they travel in a Partridge Family-style bus.
What I know and can share with you is that the group takes music from Bollywood, the Balkans and New Orleans, throws it all in a blender, and then adds samba and hip-hop. Suffice to say, there’s a special button on this blender called “crazymix” because the sound that’s produced is a limb-shaking, grin-inducing concoction.
Hear the madness at whatcheerbrigade.com, or do what I did and like the band on Facebook. Either way, your ears are gonna be yanked down the Brigade’s rabbit hole, and you’re not gonna surface for a good long time. Opening the show is Jose Ayerve’s solo incarnation A Severe Joy.
What Cheer? Brigade with A Severe Joy. 9 p.m. Friday. Space Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland. $10. Ages 21 and older. space538.org
I officially challenge the notion of you can’t judge a book by its cover because I loved Gin Mill Julep before hearing them for two reasons. First, that name is awesome. Second, the group describes its music as “Prohibition era pop songs, traditional Finnish melodies and silly barnyard ditties.”
I mean, honestly, what’s not to love?
I quickly repaired to Gin Mill Julep’s MySpace page to listen to some tunes, and “My Old Man” is the cat’s pajamas, as is “Lazy Bones.” “You’ll never get your cornmeal made sleeping in the evening shade,” the band members croon. Smiles all around for the vocals, stand-up bass, mandolin and accordion.
Gin Mill Julep. 7 p.m. Saturday. The Local Buzz, 327 Ocean House Road, Cape Elizabeth. Free. capelocalbuzz.com
Staff Writer Aimsel Ponti can be contacted at 791-6455 or at:
aponti@pressherald.com
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