Roger Landes' News Blog

Denver

2008-02-13T16:55:00.002-07:00

Had a great time in Denver last weekend in a series of events hosted by my friend Pete Strickler: a packed house concert in which I played 10 different instruments and foot percussion (still no vocals yet - don't hold yer breath), taught a few private lessons and gave an Irish session workshop to 15 folks. Got to session all three nights I was there. All in all a fabulous time. Visited OME banjos to discuss the Irish tenor they are building for me, and then a trip to Herb Taylor's shop to see the neck and sides of the new bouzouki he's building me (black walnut back and sides, cedar top and maple/ebony neck/fretboard). Then a nice drive home to Taos. Hoping to do more of these teaching/performing weekends...

long time...

2008-01-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

...since I posted anything here, but I have made a resolution to start doing so starting now. OK, here's latest news:

1. Planning for ZoukFest 2008 is well under way and we'll be announcing staff on our website http://zoukfest.com this week. Look for some really interesting new staff and curriculum. We're all really looking forward to our 8th year (!) and the 2nd at our fantastic new home at College of Santa Fe.

2. Later this year I will be premiering two new works composed for me. The first is "In Blue Spaces" written by North Carolina-based composer Paul Elwood. It is a 10 minute single movement chamber work for Irish bouzouki with violin, viola, flute, clarinet, cello and piano. It is probably the first chamber work written for the Irish bouzouki! The second is an electro-acoustic piece written by award-winning composer Paul Rudy. As yet untitled, it has a solo part for Irish bouzouki played live by me, with accompanying parts comprised from recorded samples of sounds I can make on the instrument. I am very excited by the opportunity and challenge of these works.

3. Many have asked when I was going to record another solo CD. ("Dragon Reels" turned 10 last year, and my last two releases have been duos with Chipper Thompson - "The Janissary Stomp" and Randal Bays "House to House.") It looks like it might be another year before I can get into the studio for another solo outing. I have a couple of new bouzoukis on order and I'd like to have a few months with them under my belt before recording again.

OK - that's it for now. I promise to try and log in here at least weekly from now on.

Thanks for reading!

Roger

Roger Landes & Chipper Thompson April Tour

2007-04-06T20:08:00.000-06:00

Doing a few gigs in the midwest with Chipper. Hope to see y'all there!

Thursday 4/12: Lexington, KY
3:00pm Radio interview on WUKY 91.3FM.

Friday 4/13: Lexington, KY
12:00pm John Jacob Niles Center
7:00pm John Jacob Niles Center
UK School of Music
105 Fine Arts Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0022
Phone: 859-257-4900

Saturday 4/14: Lexington, KY
2:00pm Joseph Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington KY 40503
800 248 6849
859 273 2911

Saturday 4/14: Lexington, KY
9:00pm Natasha's Cafe
112 Esplanade
Lexington, KY
859.259.2754

Sunday 4/15: Atlanta, GA
8:00pm RedLight Cafe
553 Amsterdam Ave
Atlanta, GA 30306
(404) 874-7828
http://www.redlightcafe.com/

Tuesday 4/17: Champaign, IL
8:00 House concert at home of Dean Karres
Contact:
www.pipers-hut.com/concerts
concerts@pipers-hut.com
217-390-3291

Thursday 4/19: Kansas City, MO
7:30 gig at Cafe &
1811 W. 45th St.
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 753-3322
http://www.eddiedelahunt.com/contact.htm

Sunday 4/22: Hutchinson, KS
2:00 concert
Hutchinson/Reno Arts & Humanities
Flag Theater
310 N. Main
Hutchinson, KS
contact: Mark Rassette
phone: 620.662.1280
email: hrah@cox.net

Roger Landes & Chipper Thompson NM Tour

2007-01-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Howdy there, Folks! well, it's sure been a while since I posted. Here's what's shakin':

Roger Landes & Chipper Thompson "Janissary Stomp" Tour of New Mexico
(y la pequeña esquina de Tejas)

Wednesday, Feb. 7th
House concert
925 McKelligon
El Paso, TX
Contact: Steve Yellen 915.842.7937
stevenyellen@gmail.com

Thursday, Feb. 8th, 8pm
The Black Box Theater
430 Downtown Mall
Las Cruces, NM

Doors open at 7:30

Tickets available at Hubbard's Music and More on Foster,

Mountain Music on Solano and from Steve Smith.

$12.oo adv, $15.oo at door. Students $10.oo

For more info call 505-525-0559

desertnite@zianet.com

Friday, Feb. 9th, 7pm
Unitarian Fellowship
1010 16th St.
Alamogordo, NM
contact: SKY & John Yates 505.437.0325
alamohouseconcert@yahoo.com
(tickets @ door)

Saturday, Feb. 10th, 8pm
GIG Performance Space
1808 Second St (across from Cloud Cliff Bakery)
Santa Fe, NM
(tickets @ door)
http://www.gigsantafe.com/

Hope to see you all there!

Roger

Tucson, Saturday, Nov. 18th

2006-11-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Tucson this Saturday opening for Battlefield Band with Chipper Thompson. Hope to see y'all there!

http://www.rhythmandroots.org/

Gig in Crestone this Sunday

2006-09-13T23:07:00.000-06:00

I'm doing a house concert this Sunday, September 17th with Chipper Thompson at the Hazelrig Music House in Crestone, CO. For reservations call (719) 256-4371 or email: sylehz@ctelco.net

"The Janissary Stomp" in national release

2006-09-13T18:35:00.000-06:00

We're gearing up to release "The Janissary Stomp" nationally next month just in time for the Christmas buying frenzy (those folks in the photo above look pretty happy about it!).

Sidestreet Distribution http://www.elderly.com/sidestreet/ in East Lansing, MI has agreed to distribute it to their network of independent, non-chain stores that are the lifeblood of folk and traditional music (sorry Borders and Barnes & Noble!).

We've redesigned the cover art for this release, which will also be available for online purchase on this website: https://rogerlandes.brownrice.com/orders.html

Thanks for your support!

Janissary Stomp Tour April 2007

2006-09-09T10:06:00.000-06:00

Chipper Thompson and I will be taking our globe-trotting, genre-blending duo bouzouki music on tour in the Midwest and Southeast next April (on either side of two days at the University of Kentucky in Lexington: 4/13-14). If you're in NE, KS, OK, TX, AR, MO, IL, IN, OH, KY, WV, VA, TN, GA, AL, MS, SC NC, get in touch if you'd like to present a show or can refer us to someone who would. We'd love to see y'all!

Radio Free Bassanda @ Taos Inn!

2006-09-05T10:14:00.000-06:00

News from Bassanda!

We're sad that our friend and compatriot Mason Brown moved to Missouri over the summer and will no longer be playing with us. We wish him all the best in his new endeavours!

So, suddenly finding ourselves a trio instead of a quartet, we rehearsed for our August 6th gig at Taos Inn with new vigor and determination and the gig went very well.

We're pleased that cellist extroadinaire Mark Dudrow will be joining us for two bookings at Taos Inn this fall: Sunday, October 22nd and Saturday, November 25th. (Look for Mark to debut my yayli banza - see Instruments Gallery 3.)

Hope to see you all there!

Radio Free Bassanda @ Taos Inn!

2006-07-20T09:45:00.000-06:00

I'll be performing with Radio Free Bassanda at the Taos Inn on Sunday, August 6th, from 7-10pm. We're a trio for this gig (me, Chipper Thompson on percussion and Ben Wright on bass) since Mason Brown's recent move to Missouri.

Hope to see you there!

Gig in Los Alamos this Friday!

2006-04-03T12:17:00.000-06:00

I'm playing a concert in Los Alamos this Friday with Chipper Thompson. We'll be doing material from our "Janissary Stomp" CD. Details: 8pm at the Central Avenue Grill, 1789 Central Ave. in Los Alamos. Phone: 505.662.2005. Hope to see you there!

gig at GIG in Santa Fe

2006-03-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Radio Free Bassanda (Roger, Mason Brown, Chipper Thompson and Ben Wright) had a great gig at GIG in Santa Fe last Thursday night. It was our first real gig in a listening environment and we had a great time with a small but very appreciative audience (thanks to those of you who came out). GIG is a very nice, comfortable, good sounding venue, with seats for about 50-60 people. Joey Bradley did a great job on sound. We hope to play there again soon.

Great gig at Taos Inn tonight!

2006-02-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who came out to the Taos Inn tonight for Radio Free Bassanda. It was our 2nd gig with the full quartet. For those who missed this one, we've another gig on Thursday, March 2nd at GIG Performance Space in Santa Fe. I'll post the details later in a separate thread.

Radio Free Bassanda!

2006-02-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to the gig with Mason Brown, Chipper Thompson and Ben Wright, in our Radio Free Bassanda guise, this Sunday night at that Taos Inn. Come out and see us! We start at 6:30.

And, we'll be in Santa Fe in a couple of weeks - at the new GIG Performance Space on 2nd street: http://gigsantafe.com

Hope to see you there!

Hello and welcome to my news blog on my new website!

2006-02-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

I'll be checking in here from time to time, daily when I can, and hope to have a chat with some of you. Feel free to post questions here or start a thread, whatever.

Thanks to John Farr of Zoo Pilot Design in Llano Quemado, NM for his excellent work!

Thanks for stopping by!
Roger