Love and Heat: Petite Celine’s Passion and Global Pastiche Burst Forth on “Man Made Fire”

PETITE CELINE

WHEN: July 20, 8 PM
WHERE: Just Jake’s, 30 Park St, Montclair

Petite Celine’s songs sometimes arrive full blown, after she sits in silence for a time. They’ll come as polychrome images, vividly blowing the embers of ideas into little flames. She then sits down at the piano or harmonium, or with her guitar, and captures the song.

On Man Made Fire (release: March 15, 2019), Celine shows how varied the lights and shades of these moments can be, projecting through an extremely personal lens of globally inflected indie pop. She may sing in multiple languages in the same song, or incorporate steel pan and tuba (“The Great Unknown”), koto and trumpet (“Jezebel”), Brazilian drums and Django Reinhardt-esque pentatonics (“Qui Sommes Nous”).

The combinations are deliberate, and they get to the heart of what Celine wants to express as an artist. “I create these fusions because I want to build bridges,” she reflects. “Beauty is everywhere and it’s interconnected.”

Interconnection comes naturally to Celine, who is also a visual artist and uses her work as part of her performances and videos. Growing up bilingual, savoring summer stays with family in France, she recalls wondering at the range of sounds she heard on French radio, how it varied from the America-centric pop dominating the airwaves in the US. The notion that music could be catchy and quirky, yet hop from language to language intrigued her. “It’s the sound I hear in my head,” she notes. That sound sometimes bursts into Spanish (“Explorame”) or Portuguese (“Cartographers”), French (“Tigre Fondant”) or German (a passage in “Man Made Fire”). Each language has a feeling, a sound that enriches the song or its story. “I would love at some point to experiment with singing in a made-up language,” laughs Celine. “I feel you don’t need to know what I’m saying to know what I mean. It just needs to resonate with you.” Celine’s talent for conveying emotions through music was honed during her first years as a performer, when she found herself busking regularly in New York’s Washington Square. She was homeless at the time, and playing for spare change was her only source of income. She had to make a connection with the passersby to survive. She mastered the art, and that urgency to reach listeners remains palpable in her songs. The songs on Man Made Fire create a narrative that resonates universally: the struggle to find and honor one’s self in a world of conflicting messages and confounding relationships. “This whole album is about discovering myself as a very independent woman, discovering love and heat, and learning how to heal,” muses Celine, “and becoming comfortable in my skin. All those moments in my past when I had felt less than, like someone weird; it’s the  beginning of me saying, no, there’s nothing wrong with me.” Sometimes Celine traces this process via loss and heartache, and sometimes via delicious snark, on tracks like “Wine and Cheese,” the delightfully barbed musings of gal sitting at a wine bar, contemplating the guy serving her. Beyond its immediacy and openness, what makes Celine’s songwriting stand out is its globetrotting curiosity. She imagines a Miriam Makeba and Camille collaboration (the vocal choruses of “We Were All Good Kids”), a track where reggae and polka collide (“The Great Unknown”). She loves these “mad scientist” moments, when anything goes and all her influences can intersect, a process further bolstered by the album’s savvy co-producer Christian Medice. The risks are worth it, as they translate into songs that relay the intensity and joy of life. “In the end, it’s about confronting your own heart, but you’d rather embrace it than suffer any longer.  About new beginnings and taking leaps and risks,” reflects Celine. “Being alive is all about that. It’s about recognizing when it’s time to move on, let go, and hope for what can be built.”

Indie-Soul Songstress Drops Contagious Rock Single “Always”

Rachel Ana Dobken: When It Happens to You

WHEN: Saturday, September 8th, 8 PM
WHERE: Asbury Lanes, 209 4th Ave., Asbury Park
TICKETS: $12
MORE INFO

Dobken blends an intoxicating concoction of jazzy soulfulness and indie rock janglyness…. It's the sound of someone who doesn't just have a pretty, vibrato-filled voice, but actual soul behind it." —Heavy Blog is Heavy

Asbury Park Indie-Soul goddess Rachel Ana Dobken releases new single, “Always,” from her upcoming album, When It Happens to You, out this fall. The first single, “Understand,” premiered exclusively on Relix.com, which they hailed as “smoky” and “shimmering”. Dobken played drums, guitar and sang on this latest track. She also wrote, arranged and produced it, as well as the entire album. Listen to "Always"

The multi-talented artist has a knack for blending indie-rock, soul and jazz throughout her music, describing herself as “My Morning Jacket meets Lake Street Dive.” She’s been featured by The Aquarian Weekly, The Deli Magazine, NJ Arts, Relix Magazine, New York Times, Asbury Park Press, Travel+Leisure and more. All photographs for the record were taken by famed rock photographer, Danny Clinch, who has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams and many more. Rachel works closely with Clinch as his Music Director at his Transparent Gallery in Asbury Park.

Dobken is a quadruple threat (drums, guitar, vocals and piano) and studied jazz at Bard College. Her music is raw and honest with a stage presence so emotionally captivating it's been compared to the likes of Janis Joplin and Jeff Buckley. Catch her live at her pre-release show at Asbury Lanes with The Mercury Brothers on September 8th, and stay tuned for more music from her impending album!

Dobken has a knack for blending  jazz, rock and soul throughout her music, describing herself as “Amy Winehouse meets My Morning Jacket.”

All photos and album art for the record were taken by Danny Clinch, who has photographed Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams and so many more. He is also the creator of Sea.Hear.Now festival, taking place in Asbury Park next month. Dobken has been featured by The Aquarian Weekly, The Deli Magazine, NJ Arts, Relix Magazine, New York Times, Asbury Park Press, Travel+Leisure and more.

Photo by Danny Clinch

Upcoming Shows at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City

Allah-Las
with Olden Yolk, Tim Hill, Reverb Radio

WHEN: Thursday, August 23, Doors 8pm / Show 9pm
WHERE: White Eagle Hall (337 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07302) is conveniently located within walking distance between Grove Street & Journal Square PATH Stations, about 30 minutes from Manhattan. For more details on visiting White Eagle Hall, check here.
TICKETS: $16

Following their 2016 album Calico Review, Allah-Las recently returned with Covers #1, the first in a series of EPs exploring tunes near and new to the band. For the debut EP in the series, the band offers renditions of George Harrison's "Fish On The Sand," Kathy Heideman's "The Earth Won't Hold Me," 90s LA cult band Further's "JO Eleven," and Television's "Hard On Love," an unreleased song from the band's Marquee Moon recording sessions. Recorded in Topanga Canyon while working on material for their next full-length release, the selections are comprised of old faves and newly discovered tracks that became ubiquitous sounds in the studio between album takes. Allah-Las is composed of Miles Michaud (vocals / rhythm guitar), Matthew Correia (drum / vocals), Pedrum Siadatian (lead guitar / vocals), and Spencer Dunham (bass / vocals). On the road the band has built a dedicated following with extensive, sold-out tours and high profile festival dates. Olden Yolk is a New York-based group whose penchant for dystopian folk, abstract poeticism, and motorik rhythms have enveloped them in a sound uniquely of-the-moment yet simultaneously time-tested. The project is led by songwriters, vocalists, and multi-instrumentalists Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer. Their debut full-length, Trouble in Mind, ruminates on questions surrounding love, self-doubt, and locating autonomy amidst burgeoning unrest. These songs are ecstatic odes to the life of the city; to the subway platforms, kiosks, and monuments which enliven and encompass our collectivity, elevating into an urban-psychedelia.

JCTC Film: Lez Bomb

WHEN: Friday, August 24, Doors 7:30pm / Show 8pm
WHERE: White Eagle Hall (337 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07302) is conveniently located within walking distance between Grove Street & Journal Square PATH Stations, about 30 minutes from Manhattan. For more details on visiting White Eagle Hall, check here.
TICKETS: $15

As a follow-up to her viral hit, Girl Night Stand, Jenna Laurenzo is back with her first feature, Lez Bomb, starring Academy Award-winner Cloris Leachman, Academy-nominated Bruce Dern, Emmy Award-winner Kevin Kane, and an ensemble cast including Steve Guttenberg, Kevin Pollak, Elaine Hendrix, Deirdre O'Connell, Brandon Michael Hall, and Caitlin Mehner, brought to you by the producer of There's Something about Mary and Dumb and Dumber, Bobby Farrelly. Lez Bomb is a multigenerational comedy of errors featuring a young woman (Lauren) who comes home for Thanksgiving with some life changing news. Little does Lauren know, the eccentric cast of characters that make up her extended family have their own stirring surprises as well. The result is a hilarious series of events forcing the family to come together in what amounts to the most unceremonious of holidays. As it turns out, there is no good time to drop the Lez Bomb.

Vetiver
with Espers

WHEN: Sunday, August 26, Doors 7pm / Show 8pm
WHERE: White Eagle Hall (337 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07302) is conveniently located within walking distance between Grove Street & Journal Square PATH Stations, about 30 minutes from Manhattan. For more details on visiting White Eagle Hall, check here.
TICKETS: $20

Vetiver is an indie / freak folk outfit led by Andy Cabic. Formed in San Francisco in 2002, the band released their eponymous debut in 2004, which began a string of critically-acclaimed albums, including To Find Me Gone (2006), Tight Knit (2009), and Complete Strangers (2015). Vetiver has toured with Morrissey and The Shins, shared the stage with Bright Eyes and Juana Molina, and collaborated with Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart. Talking about Complete Strangers, Cabic notes, "The songs on the album bear some resemblance to the album's title. They share things in common but come from different places, different times. 'Stranger Still' is an anthem for insomniacs, illuminating the hours when the world exceeds our grasp. 'From Now On' rings out some emotional tinnitus, the moment a night runs away from you, when freedoms turn into responsibilities. The album builds around dualities, the way people pair at parties. 'Current Carry' percolates with the confidence of love, while 'Confiding' reveals how vulnerable we are chasing love. As with many of Vetiver's better moments, sunshine is only a chord away from melancholy. An introspective lyric underlies an extroverted chorus. Subtlety tries to be outgoing, loneliness familiar, in an effort to connect the dots of life's ellipsis. I'm still figuring the album out. It feels like someone I've just met yet known for a long time." Playing their first live shows since the release of their last album in 2009, III, psychedelic folk band Espers began appearing in the Philadelphia area in early 2002. With a core provided by singer/songwriter Greg Weeks, Meg Baird, and Brooke Sietinsons and rounded out by numerous collaborators, their heady blend of chamber rock, baroque pop, and late-'60s British folk won them a small but devoted following both locally and nationally. Their intoxicating self-titled debut arrived in 2004 on the Locust label. The EP Weed Tree, a collection of covers, traditional pieces, and originals, arrived in 2005, followed in 2006 by the full-length II.

The Moth StorySLAM: Reunion

WHEN: Monday, August 27, Doors 7pm / Show 8pm
WHERE: White Eagle Hall (337 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07302) is conveniently located within walking distance between Grove Street & Journal Square PATH Stations, about 30 minutes from Manhattan. For more details on visiting White Eagle Hall, check here.
TICKETS: $10 (Tickets on Sale 8/20 at 3pm)

At The Moth StorySLAM's Reunion, prepare a five-minute story about revisiting the past. Friends or foes, family or lovers, schoolmates, colleagues or neighbors. Circling back to take inventory on past grievances or long overdue thanks, glory days or stuff you really wish would be forgotten. Hearts broken or mended. Feelings rekindled or extinguished ... rose colored glasses optional. The Moth StorySLAM is an open-mic storytelling competition. Open to anyone with a five-minute story to share on the night's theme. Come tell a story, or just enjoy the show!

White Eagle Hall is a newly restored and renovated historic theater located in the thriving nightlife scene of Downtown Jersey City, New Jersey. White Eagle Hall presents live music, theatre, comedy, dance, film, family shows as well as other performances while serving food and drinks. In addition, White Eagle Hall is a warm and intimate event space perfect for weddings, receptions, private parties, fundraisers, corporate meetings and other functions.

As one of the newest and most unique live-performance and event spaces in the Northeast, White Eagle Hall comprehensive overhaul features a roughly 8,000 square-foot flexible space venue and it's capacity is 800 standing, 400 seating or 250 seated for dining; has many historic features including a wrought iron wrap-around balcony, a coffered tin ceiling with two large stained glass atriums. White Eagle Hall includes its very own bar and food service. In addition, White Eagle Hall features two restaurants on the ground level, Cellar 335 and Madame Claude Bis. White Eagle Hall is located in the thriving nightlife scene of Downtown Jersey City Restaurant Row, where there are many other restaurants and bars to enjoy.

The building opened in 1910, constructed by polish immigrants and craftsmen under the leadership of Father Peter Boleslaus Kwiatowski, who transferred ownership to St. Anthony's upon his death. The parish managed the venue throughout the 20th century. Embedded in the White Eagle Hall ceiling are two spectacular, hand-crafted stained glass skylights -- one commemorating Frédéric Chopin, the classical music composer, and the other Marcella Sembrich, an internationally renowned opera star. Perhaps White Eagle Hall's most famous achievement is the facility's unique contribution to basketball: White Eagle Hall was the home of the St. Anthony Friars, the basketball team of St. Anthony High School coached by Jersey City native and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bob Hurley. The original wood basketball floor where the Friars had their famous practice are now used as bar counters and balcony flooring; wood fixtures from Saint Boniface Church (constructed in 1865), can be found in the window frames, bar sides and balcony railings and ledges; and, Boniface altar fixtures can also be seen in the box office/merchandise area.

ROUNDING OUT JULY @ THE WHITE EAGLE HALL

WHEN: Friday, July 13, Doors 8pm / Show 8:30pm
WHERE: White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ, conveniently located within walking distance between Grove Street & Journal Square PATH Stations, about 30 minutes from Manhattan. For more details on visiting White Eagle Hall, check here.
TICKETS: $26

The Get Up Kids are an American indie rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-90's emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music. As they gained prominence, they began touring with bands such as Green Day and Weezer before becoming headliners themselves, eventually embarking on international tours of Japan and Europe. They founded Heroes & Villains Records, an imprint of the successful indie rock label Vagrant Records. While the imprint was started to release albums by The Get Up Kids, it served as a launching pad for several side-projects such as The New Amsterdams and Reggie and the Full Effect. The Get Up Kids were viewed throughout their existence as a prototypical emo band, having been major players in the Midwest emo movement of the mid-1990s. After briefly breaking up, the band announced a 2009 reunion tour to support the tenth anniversary re-release of their classic album, Something to Write Home About. Earlier this year, the band signed to the Polyvinyl Recoreds label. Hamilton Leithauser with Caveman WHEN: Saturday, July 14, Doors 7:30pm / Show 8:30pm TICKETS: $25 I Had A Dream That You Were Mine is an album of songs Hamilton Leithauser (former lead vocalist for The Walkmen) and Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij wrote and recorded together between July 2014 and February 2016 (under the name Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam). In the spirit of collaborative albums, not unlike those of David Byrne and Brian Eno, each musician's individuality remains in tact, while in fact, on this record, both Hamilton's identity as a singer and Rostam's as a producer seem to reach new heights. "This was a record I'd been wanting to make for at least a decade," Rostam says. "As a fan of Hamilton's voice in the Walkmen, I'd been wanting to capture it in ways it hadn't been captured before -- to make songs with him that placed the crooner right beside the howler, the screamer beside the whisperer -- to try to leave no stone unturned in terms of how we should approach the delivery of a song. And also to try to push his voice outside of any musical context it had lived in before." Says Leithauser, "Rostam's one-man-band process is so fundamentally different from the way I've always written songs, and it's very impressive. We had no idea what kind of music we were going to make—we actually didn't know we were working on an album at first—but unexpected things kept falling into place. We were writing and recording everything simultaneously—it was flat-out inspiring just to be there." Many of these songs seem to take place in a memory of New York's past, or wading through the waist high waters in a half-submerged New York of the future. The Hold Steady: Stay Positive 10th Anniversary Show WHEN: Wednesday, July 25, Doors 7:30pm / Show 8:30pm TICKETS: SOLD OUT Formed in 2003, The Hold Steady have released six albums, numerous singles and played over 1000 shows during the past 15 years. The Brooklyn-based band has performed in all 50 states in the USA, nearly every province in Canada and throughout Europe and Australia. In November 2017, The Hold Steady released their first new music in over three years when they put out the songs "Entitlement Crew" and "Snake In The Shower" ahead of their (now) annual week-after-Thanksgiving four night stand at the Brooklyn Bowl. In March 2018, ahead of a sold out weekend at The Electric Ballroom in London, the band released two more new songs, "Eureka" and "Esther." 2018 will see The Hold Steady re-issue a 10th Anniversary Edition of their fourth studio album, Stay Positive, featuring b-sides and previously unreleased outtakes. The band will play a series of special weekend shows beginning in July called "Constructive Summer." OSHUN WHEN: Thursday, July 26, Doors 8pm / Show 9pm TICKETS: $15 GA / $30 Reserved Balcony OSHUN is an independent Hip-Hop / Soul duo and the sonic manifestation of Afrofuturism. Using digital and acoustic sounds, heavy drums and bass, and ambient harmonic textures, OSHUN connects with the spirit of their ancestors to manifest a sweeter tomorrow for us all. Since the release of their debut mixtape ASASE YAA in 2015, OSHUN has amassed quite a following. They've been recognized by media heavy hitters such as Rolling Stone, The FADER, Viceland, Huffington Post, NPR, Essence, and Vogue, to name a few. They've also performed throughout the US and Brazil all while remaining full-time college students at NYU. It's been a wonderful journey and now that these young goddesses have graduated college, they are transitioning into the next phase of manifesting their purpose. OSHUN is preparing for the release of their debut album series, bittersweet, complete with captivating visuals, a two-month long tour of the US & Canada, and a deeper look into their ever-evolving selves. Jenny Lewish with Cut Worms WHEN: Friday, July 27, Doors 8pm / Show 9pm TICKETS: SOLD OUT One of the most celebrated and respected performers of her generation, Jenny Lewis got her start as the dynamic frontwoman of influential LA group Rilo Kiley in 1998. She has since released three albums under her name, most recently 2014's The Voyager. In addition to her solo work, she was a member of The Postal Service, part of the duo, Jenny and Johnny, as well as the lead vocalist for Nice As Fuck. Lewis has collaborated with Beck, Elvis Costello, Ryan Adams and M. Ward, among others. She has also written music for films such as the musical/drama, Song One, starring Anne Hathaway, and Very Good Girls starring Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen. JD McPherson with Secret Country WHEN: Saturday, July 28, Doors 7:30pm / Show 8:30pm TICKETS: $25 When JD McPherson talks about his latest album, Undivided Heart & Soul, there's no glimmer of self-adulation, or even the confidence one might expect of a veteran artist. Instead, there's a snapshot of McPherson's creative process bringing the record to life, a journey filled with fear and change, then boldness, and, eventually, catharsis. The best rock music has a story to tell. This record chronicles a series of upheavals, frustrations, roadblocks, and kismet-a cross-country move, failed creative relationships, a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity, and learning to love making music again by letting go. Along with collaborations with fellow Oklahoman Parker Millsap, Butch Walker, and Aaron Lee Tasjan, McPherson's selections for Undivided Heart & Soul include many deeply personal themes: "Let's Get Out of Here While We're Young" shares writing credits with longtime bandmate Ray Jacildo and McPherson's wife, Mandy. He also delved into character profiles, both fictional and based on real-life experiences, stories McPherson has held onto but never thought of as fodder for songwriting, such as the Las Vegas bus station interlude detailed in "Style (Is a Losing Game)." Undivided Heart & Soul is a statement record, one that asserts McPherson as he is now, battle-weary but stronger than ever. Secret Country was born out of love for outlaw country tunes, cold beers, eating hot dogs, and just about everything else you might relax with in the summertime. Originally coming together as an acoustic duo performing at local parties, bbq's, and bars, the advent of original material led to an augmentation of the group into the sextet that you hear tantalizing your eardrums today.

Ruby Bones Bring Their Indie Punk to Teaneck May 10

RUBY BONES

WHEN: May 10, Doors at 7PM / Show at 8PM
WHERE: Debonair Music Hall, 1409 Queen Anne Blvd, Teaneck
TICKETS: $5 advance, $10 door
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

"Furious and shadowy, propelled by a rousing chorus that evokes early Walkmen."— Consequence of Sound

"Eerily catchy... the band blares in and you can practically see the lightning bolts coming through your speakers."— Impose Magazine

"Ruby Bones put the guitars and the grit front and center, but without sacrificing any of Nova's clear melodic gifts." — PopMatters

New Jersey/Brooklyn indie rockers Ruby Bones our currently touring in support of their debut self-titled album. The band combines energetic rhythms with visceral, existential lyrics and unabashed hooks to form short, punchy songs best digested in the sweat-soaked clubs that define their local clubs.

Made up of vocalist/guitarist Chris Nova, drummer James Janocha, and South African import FC Spies on bass, the trio (along with Denis Daley providing the occasional sax) describes itself as "Bruce Springsteen on cocaine after a few drags off a helium balloon."

With a mutual love of rock and roll, the band turned Nova's folk songs into thoughtful yet vibrant tracks inspired by love, loss and the double-edged blade of a technology-reliant culture.

Their first single, "Heart of Darkness" was featured on Consequence of Sound, Impose Magazine, WFUV, WRAT and Goldie's Garage on Sirius XM among others.

A copy of the record to stream/download is available upon request.

Album is now available on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.