21st Annual
Starry Plough Murder Ballads Bash
Saturday, October 28, 2023
8:30 pm. (Music starts at 8:45)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
8:30 pm. (Music starts at 8:45)
I'm sure it's crossed your mind. "I'm gonna kill him." "I'm gonna kill her." "I'm gonna kill... them." For the vast majority of us that's exactly where it stays, safely tucked away in our own private thoughts. But then there's that tiny minority: the murderers. They act on those thoughts, commit the deed, and hopefully pay the price for their crimes. Then come the tales. They get told. The stories are written. The songs get sung. And why? Because we've always had that morbid fascintion about murder. We get it in the news, we read it in books, and our children are thrilled by the tales until they cower, shuddering beneath their covers, in the night. So I say, "Come out. Come out! Come out and let this musical tradition bring a blood curdling smile to your face this Halloween season." What say you? Do you dare? We hope to see you there.
This year's show features these performers starting at 8:45 in order of execution (bios of the bands follow the list):
The Heebie Jeebies
Karry Walker
The Tortured
Linda XYZ
Connie Champagne and the Spooky Spirits
Dizzy Twin Duo
Polly Genius
Edgar Allen Paul
The Happy Clams
Ed Harvest
The Heebie Jeebies - This quartet of long standing Berkeley grown musical wanderers hail from such bands as Psycotic Pineapple, The Chuckleberries, The Chris Ford Band, Salsa De Berkeley, Talkback, Street Band, The FeZtOnEs, The Fabulous Titans… featuring Dave C. Berry, Chauncey Berry, Bruno Coon & David Luce. The Heebie Jeebies will bring an eclectic mis of genre defying tales of murder, mayhem, misery, and woe for your listening "pleasure." Come and see what the black cat dragged in.
Karry Walker - "…Melancholy-sentimental.
And broken-down honest. This is a rare kind of beauty, cradled in plainness.”
-Lollipop Magazine, on Karry’s debut album Ultralash. www.ultralash.com
ultralash.com
The Tortured - Born out of the ashes of
a dying music scene in Berkeley, California, Sam Gearing and Johnny Lawrie formed
the band in 2012. In 2013, the band took a hiatus as Sam studied at school,
and Johnny took his own hitchhiking journey up and down the West Coast. The
band reformed stronger than ever in the summer of 2014. Now Johnny is the only
founding member left, but with Tom Lee on lead guitar and Don Enberg on drums
they are unstoppable. Currently based in San Francisco. They're a force to be
reckoned with! The
Tortured on Spotify
Linda XYZ - Starting in the late 70’s
with her band ⒶlieNation,
through Dick and Jane, and various incarnations of the Linda XYZ Band, Linda
has steadfastly flown the punk banner. Legend has it that some hundred years
ago or so, a writer reviewed Linda’s solo act as " ... something
like her walking to the stage with the coolness of Jaye P Morgan and then unleashing
the hounds of hell." All of that will arise from a coffin on unconsecrated
ground to haunt us at the Murder Ballads this year. Linda
XYZ on Reverb Nation
Connie Champagne and the Spooky Spirits -
Singer, actor, sometime-songwriter, cabaret and lounge performer, Connie Champagne
is an all around entertainer whose talents run the gamut of singing in punk
bands to bringing to life the voice and persona of the late Judy Garland in
a yearly show. A big voice in a small package, she was once rated #30 among
"the Top One Hundred Best Things About San Francisco," by a SF Examiner
Readers Poll (ten notches above the Golden Gate Bridge!) It only makes sense
that she and her band ( fellow Mutants Mia Simmans & Greg Langston, plus
Velvetta's Tim Perdue & Smokey Lonesome) will be killing it at the show.
www.missconniechampagne.com
Dizzy Twin Duo - Mia d’Bruzzi and her partner Paul Simmans
explore a netherworld of weird, witchy vibes. They have been collaborating for
over 20 years and have written and produced various albums under different project
names (Gone to Ground, Mama Mia d’Bruzzi, Sticky Situation). Dizzy Twin
is the expression of their endless fascination and obsession with creating new
music and modes of communication. www.dizzytwin.com
Polly Genius - Polly Genius formed in
2021 as a fun, ruckus project to celebrate the music of PJ Harvey. Members Angela
Coon, Karen Roze, Jenya Chernoff and Matt Lebofsky bring together their many
years of playing in Bay Area bands (ninewood, slombis, vegan butcher, kneel,
toychestra, Milf, fuzzy cousins, mumble and peg, secret chiefs 3, mark growden’s
electric piñata, and more) for a quintessential Polly Jean Harvey ride
with a hard nod to the 90’s. Polly
Genius Facebook Page
Edgar Allen Paul - Bay Area songwriters
Meredith Edgar, DannyAllen, & Paul Griffiths teaming up to play an eclectic
assortment of country tinged originals and honky Tonk classics.They specialize
in songs of catastrophe, ennui, and decapitation. www.meredithedgar.com
Danny Allen on Bandcamp Paul
Griffiths on Reverbnation
The
Happy Clams - This bed of "hasn't beens" from the
Berkeley Flats have successfully eluded fame and remained beneath the surface
of the American consciousness in 25 years of performing. This rag-tag group
of geezer punks (Paul Pot-guitar & vocals, Gail Todd-bass & vocals,
and Rawbird-drums & pig squeals) remain undeterred and continue to blast
out their raw rock'n' roll with personality for anybody within earshot and beyond.
www.thehappyclams.com
Ed Harvest - Ed Harvest was born in San
Juan Puerto Rico in 1998. He started playing saxophone at the age of four later
on learning Guitar, Bass, Drums, flute and vocals throughout the years. He was
raised in a house heavily influenced by classic rock music as well as typical
puertorican music. Ed Harvest graduated from Berklee College in 2021 and is
now residing in California. Ed currently has 9 singles released and is working
on his debut album. You may have heard him at the Starry Plough Open Mic.
www.edharvest.com
Keep checking back for updates as they come in.