June 3: Manayunk Bike Race

The Manayunk Bike Race is one of the biggest events of the year and The Grape Room is extremely happy to be a part of it. Stop by the club between laps for a couple of $2 Miller High Life bottles and $1 hot dogs. Free entertainment will be provided by Mike Weyrauch from 12pm – 3pm. And when the race is over… it ain’t over. Come join us at the afterparty for a rare covers set by The Great Socio and Dirty Robots.

Acoustic Opener Needed for Radio 104.5 Show at The Grape Room

Radio 104.5 and The Grape Room are partnering up for a fantastic night of music on Thursday, July 19 with performances by A Cool Stick, The Beta Phase and Viv Peyrat & The Revival.  There’s one performance slot left – the acoustic opener – who’s gonna snag it?

Every Monday in June, Open Mic’ers will have the opportunity to have their 2-song set recorded, mixed and posted on StereoKiller.com – and for the five days that follow, people will vote on their favorite. We’ll do this for four weeks and announce the winner on Monday, July 2. Open mic sign-ups begin at 8pm with music starting at 9pm. You must be present to sign up. Performances can be solo / duo / trio… and must be acoustic.

How to vote: Send an email to GrapeRoom@gmail.com with “[name of artist] needs to perform on July 19″ in the subject line. 

Contest Dates:
Perform on Monday, June 4
Voting begins on Wednesday, June 6 at midnight
Voting ends on Sunday, June 10 at midnight

Perform on Monday, June 11
Voting begins on Wednesday, June 13 at midnight
Voting ends on Sunday, June 17 at midnight

Perform on Monday, June 18
Voting begins on Wednesday, June 20 at midnight
Voting ends on Sunday, June 24 at midnight

Perform on Monday, June 25
Voting begins on Wednesday, June 27 at midnight
Voting ends on Sunday, June 31 at midnight

Support Song Dogs and the Nightjar : Kickstarter Campaign Launched

Song Dogs and the Nightjar have launched a $5,500 Kickstarter campaign to help them record and release their new album, Wild Country. The band will celebrate the effort by performing a free show this Friday at The Grape Room at 10pm.

“The music of the album reflects this wild, nostalgic dynamic.  Calling their sound “Prairie-heavy”, the band’s new material is a mix not only of heavy rock grooves, delta blues tunings, and hard hitting drums; but also of rolling harmonies, quiet melodies, and whispered secrets.”

Check out their campaign HERE.

The Lawsuits “Baby, Don’t Go” Official Music Video

The Lawsuits have released a very entertaining video for their song, “Baby, Don’t Go”. The band will perform at The Grape Room on Saturday, June 9. Also performing: Fantastic Planet, The Rivals and Levee Drivers.

Support The Rivals: Kickstarter Campaign Launched

The Rivals have embarked on a $5,000 Kickstarter campaign. If this video doesn’t convince you to make a small donation for the cause, then perhaps the location it was filmed at will. The band is raising funds to record a new album with producer and engineer, Bill Moriarty (Dr. Dog, Man Man, Drink Up ButterCup, Toy Soldiers) and will release it on vinyl and digital format. 

LIVE VIDEO: Viv and the Revival – April 6, 2012

Viv and the Revival always bring it when they perform at The Grape Room. Check out this performance of “Welcome To A Good Time” from their show on April 6, 2012. VATR returns to our stage on Friday, June 8 with John the Conqueror, Keystoned and Frank Viele.

The Byways: This Saturday Night

It’s been what seems like forever since The Byways have played The Grape Room, but this Saturday night will correct that. Forest Glen, front man and founder of the Rock & Roll / Country / Americana / Roots project, checks in:

As the main songwriter for the band, were The Byways always a band or did it evolve from a solo effort?
The Byways sprung from my song writing that began to explore my southern roots and my family’s outlaw history.  My uncle was a mechanic (when he worked) and could fix just about any motor completely wasted, but if he was sober, he couldn’t do shit.  He would call me up with some elaborate story that always ended with him needing money.  Most times we settled on me giving him a ride in my 1965 Ford Falcon so he could try and score some crack or whatever he needed that day.  His license had long been suspended – this was before the police gave up on him.  To test the waters, he moved on to a moped, and then eventually began driving again without a license.  The police would pull him over but they’d just break his pipes and send him on his way again.  I guess they just got tired of prosecuting him and didn’t want to send him back to jail.  His fascination with cars, however, was passed onto me and my brother – but that is another story.  To answer your question, as I began to dwell on these things I sought out other family histories that centered on the struggle of cars.  This led me to the great southern tradition of Whiskey bootlegging.  But let us not forget, and at this moment pay homage to the first American Whiskey Rebellion, which as it happens, began in our beloved state of Pennsylvania.  Long live liberty, freedom, and that brown river of spirits…may she ride forever free down the Schuylkill River through the Grape Room’s front door.   This is where it began….and this is where The Byways begins…Where I recruited my partner Ben Rose and our drummer to take this music from the past into the present…to the stage of the Grape Room this Saturday night.

No one can accuse the band of overplaying – why do you limit the band to only a handful of shows each year?
We are very selective about our shows.  For example we are playing only beach towns in the summer with the exception of the Bethlehem Musik Festival in August.   We will only play our home town three times this year as we like to make our Philadelphia shows special for our friends and fans.  That is why we play the Grape Room.  It’s an awesome rock and roll bar with a great sound system and cool management that supports the rock scene here in Philadelphia.  We are grateful for what they do and look forward to our annual show.   When we are not performing, Ben and I are recording at Moose Studios.  We are working on tunes for a follow up EP to our Dark Corner EP that we released at The Grape Room last year.

VIDEO: The Great Socio – new song and a White Stripes cover

Sylvia Platypus to Perform at The Grape Room

Sylvia Platypus, Philadelphia’s (and possibly the world’s) only psycho-Celtic glam-blues band will perform at Manayunk’s Grape Room on Thursday April 19.

“We’re very excited about this show”, says Janet Bressler, frontwoman and principal songwriter for Sylvia Platypus. “Anthony Caroto (booking manager for the Grape Room) has put a lot of thought into designing an eclectic yet cohesive and thoroughly entertaining bill.”

Take vocal mannerisms reminiscent of Edith Piaf and John Lee Hooker and combine them with a stage presence that is equal parts James Brown and Judy Garland, and you have some idea of  Bressler’s lead-singer style . Add the  soul-searing Waddy Wachtel-meets-Brian May guitar work of  Bill Barone (formerly of the ’70′s era German symphonic rock band, “Wallenstein”) , the heart-stirring musical textures of  award-winning composer  and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Rutan on highland and uilleann pipes, tin whistles, English horn and Neapolitan zampogna, and the take-no-prisoners rhythm section of  Michael Southerton on rhythm guitar, Ruchama Bilenky on bass, and Rosalba Gallo on drums and you get a six-piece outfit (three men, three women)  that delivers a tough and tender genre-busting impact.

Formed a little over one year ago from some likely, not-so-likely and purely serendipitous alliances, Sylvia Platypus’ visionary scope and fearless presentation are attracting increasing attention from the music industry. They have recently signed a publishing deal for the film and TV placement of some of their compositions.

Joe Black brings his dramatic Weimar Republic Mad Hatter persona over from England and will be touring the USA alongside Bethlehem, PA’s Balkan-style punks This Way to the Egress. Starting off the evening will be Philly’s own coffee&cigarettes poet/singer/songwriter, boog. (Yes, the lower case “b” is intentional!)

‘”All of these artists- (including us)- have been considered  ‘ones to watch’.”, says Bressler.”Having us all appear together is like a musical smorgasbord!”

Hierosonic Video Now Featured on MTV.com

Hierosonic is a non-stop hard-working rock machine. Having booked and toured the country multiple times on their own dime and successfully completing a $15,000 Kickstarter campaign for a new-to-them tour vehicle, the band has earned every fan and accolade.  Check out their video for ‘The Media Taught You That’  now featured on Mtv.com.

Hierosonic will return to The Grape Room on Saturday, April 21. Also performing: Study Electricity, The Byways, Gavilan and JP & the Gilberts.