By: David Schultz


After opening her set with a solo acoustic offering of “Valentine,” The Sexy Children emerged as did the debuting Sexy Ladies for a bluesy romp through Ray Charles’ grammatically imprecise “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” Since joining forces with the Sexy Children – drummer Dan Barman and Licorice’s David Lott and Matt Epstein – Hart has found the perfect group of musicians to reinforce her assertive side and flush out the complexities of her music. With a full band, the boldness of “Planets” gains more emphasis and the foreboding warnings of “Celebrity Down” gets proper context. If the couple newer songs included in the set are any indication, Hart’s becoming a bit brasher with a posse to back her up and relishing the newfound possibilities of collaborating with her new band.

The burlesque review may be making its return some time in 2010. I missed it the first time around but I’ve been told that anyone who fancies an expertly played version of “Whipping Post” accompanied by topless ladies performing all sorts of contortions and gymnastics will find the night quite rewarding.

Labels: Rebecca Hart

By: David Schultz

Licorice's Dave Lott and Rebecca Hart's Rebecca Hart, two of Earvolution's favorites will be playing a combined acoustic set this Thursday night at New York City's Ace of Clubs on 9 Great Jones Street. Playing as The Tiny Ambivalents, the set, which starts at 7:30 p.m., should see Lott and Hart playing solo as well as together - so it'll kind of be like a little Donnie and Marie thing, but hipper. No stranger to acoustic mayhem, Lott and Sabriena Stone used to take up residence at the now-defunct Baggot Inn as the 7-11 Project but this will mark Lott's first solo appearance.

Continuing a run of firsts, Licorice will play their first ever acoustic set on December 11th as part of BuzzUniverse's 2nd annual Jingle Jam, also at the Ace of Clubs. Besides having the best cookies in the Tri-State area, last year's Xmas party featured two sets from BuzzU, the Jersey-based eclectic collective, as well as ones from Leroy Justice and Free Grass Union. It should be a fun event to kick off the Yuletide season.

Labels: BuzzUniverse, Licorice, Rebecca Hart

By: David Schultz

Mixing New York’s wealth of fine music with the spectacular sights of the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty, the shows that make up the Rocks Off Concert Cruises series give New Yorkers a great excuse to act like tourists while gawking at the local attractions. That you get to listen to great music being played within arms reach make the whole experience something special, if not a little surreal. This past Wednesday, Licorice, the headliners of Earvolution’s second New York showcase, teamed up with Rebecca Hart, one of the stars of the Earvolution’s first, to make up a less Neil Diamondish version of a Hot August Night.

Despite threats of rain in Biblical proportion, the weather held, making it a beautiful night to be on the water. Licorice made the most of the watery expanses. From the prime-for-selling-out to Facebook “What’s Your Status In London” through the Jerry Garcia Band inspired coda to “A Million Grains Of Sand,” the headlining slot affording them ample time to extend many of the songs, showing off their exceptional musicianship. On a cover of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” keyboardist Chad Dinzes turned the typically confrontational vocals into a sly, subtle threat before the crushing beat segued into Miles Davis’ “Black Satin.” With Hart joining in, they offered a thematically appropriate and funky cover of “Take Me To The River" and closed the night by managing to toss one of Josh Bloom's drum sticks around the stage, a not inconsiderable feat given the waves rocking the boat.

The pixyish Hart is equal parts brash frontwoman and vulnerable deadpan comedian, her stage training giving her a comfort level in relating to the audience and being the center of attention. Acoustic guitar in hand, she adds the sexy to her band, The Sexy Children, comprised of Licorice’s Dave Lott and Matt Epstein and drummer Dan Barman. Adding a couple new songs to those on her recently released Live At Joe’s Pub, Hart played a marvelous opening set, guaranteeing good press by dedicating a cover of “Whipping Post” to your humble narrator. Distracting everyone from the fact that most people immediately considered me the most abusive bastard on the boat, Hart belted out the final stanza with a staggering power that left the uninitiated stunned.

Labels: Licorice, Rebecca Hart

Rebecca Hart & The Sexy Children will be playing Joe's Pub within The Public Theater on Sunday night, February 15. The showcase will be the lovely singer's debut on the Pub's cabaret stage. Backed by The Sexy Children - who are Dan Barman and Licorice's David Lott and Matt Epstein - Hart will make her return to the New York area after an extended engagement in Louisville, Kentucky with Rock & Roll: The Reunion Tour.

Monday is a holiday so New Yorkers have no excuse for not coming to Joe's Pub and having a good time on Sunday night.

Labels: Rebecca Hart

By: David Schultz

Anyone present at Earvolution’s first New York City singer-songwriter showcase at the Rockwood Music Hall a little over three years ago might remember Rebecca Hart as a guitar strumming singer songwriter. Still rocking the acoustic, Hart has loaded up her arsenal and broadened the horizons of her music with her latest band The Sexy Children, comprised of Licorice’s David Lott and Matt Epstein and drummer Dan Barman. Opening up for The Telephones, Hart and The Sexy Children made the most of their opportunity to play one of the final handful of shows at the Leonard Street locale of New York City’s The Knitting Factory, which will be moving to Brooklyn in 2009.

An accomplished stage actress, Hart comfortably and quite ably fills the role of rock and roll frontwoman. A charming and delightful singer, Hart has a Broadway voice and a rock star soul, able to deliver Gillian Welch’s “Miss Ohio” with the perfect amount of stoic frailty and turn around and belt out a staggering version of “Whipping Post.” During The Allman Brothers cover, Hart tossed her acoustic guitar behind her back and held nothing back, laying into the final stanza with a marvelously startling power. Her originals, a couple taken from her 2006 album Crash & Strum, were possessed of the same wit and passion. She also a thoughtful woman, she endearingly made sure to point out that a song she wrote for Britney Spears was just about her as a subject and not meant for the pop star to actually sing.

Hart gets an excellent boost from her Sexy Children, Barman and Epstein are a superb rhythm section and add wonderful texture to her finely crafted songs. Normally out front of Licorice, Lott flourishes in the role of sideman, accentuating Hart’s acoustic rhythms with blues and classic rock riffs and ample though non-intrusive wah-wah guitar effects. It’s a four piece that is developing into a wonderful band.

An alumni of the 2008 Public Theater Shakespeare Lab, Hart will spend the early part of 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky with “Rock & Roll: The Reunion Tour” before returning to New York City for a February 15 showcase at Joe’s Pub.

Labels: Licorice, Rebecca Hart