NOT THE SAME OLD SONG Welcomes Singer-Songwriter, Pop & Folk Artists to Joe's Pub, April/May

"Not the Same Old Song" presents singer/songwriter, pop and folk performances at Joe's Pub in April and May. Tickets on sale now online at joespub.com, by phone at 212-967-7555 or in person at The Public Theater Box Office (1 PM to 6 PM) located at 425 Lafayette Street, NYC.

Check out the artists participating in the event below.

LACRYMOSA
April 21 at 7:00pm, $15

Lacrymosa is the solo-moniker of Caitlin Pasko. Hailing from Virginia Beach, VA, Pasko was taught classical piano from a young age, and quickly showed a preternatural genius for the instrument. Her mastery of impressionistic cadences and romantic conveyance of melody gave way, despite her rigorous background, to a song writing ability beyond the pale of her peers. At twenty, she’s channeled the playful character of Regina Spektor and Feist in the creation of a stamp all her own, one steeped in the mystic literacy of Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush, capable of deep deliverance and nurture.

TOH KAY WITH SPECIAL GUEST SYCAMORE SMITH
April 17 at 7:00pm, $25

Tomas Kalnoky is the lead singer/guitarist and songwriter of the bands Streetlight Manifesto and Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. He also held this position in the famed 3rd-wave ska band Catch 22, but left the band after making only one album (their debut, entitled Keasbey Nights) to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia.Kalnoky has a unique singing voice, which slightly changed during the period between his participation in Catch 22 (throaty and raspy) and Streetlight Manifesto (slightly nasal). In both of these bands, he uses a unique guitar technique that is an innovative take on the ska strumming method. Kalnoky uses the classic upstroke technique, but executes it in a fashion so rapid that it is highly removed from the more traditional sound of first-wave and two-tone ska.

So--where were you those first few harrowing years of the 21st century? Sycamore Smith was kicking a bass drum and kazooing his nuts off as one-half of the Michigan folk-punk duo "The Muldoons." That band broke up, so now Mr. Smith strums his guitar, blows his kazoo and warbles his tunes all by his lonesome. But really--who cares about the music? Lyrics have always been Smith's forte, and his scribblings focus on the gruesomely funny exploits of dip-shit characters whose twisted histories unfold over the course of countless interconnected songs. Sycamore Smith has released four solo EPs since 2005. These recordings have been described as "dream-like," but only by Sycamore himself. And he qualifies that by adding, "These are the kinds of dreams you might have if you ate your own foot before going to sleep."

MIKE + RUTHY / AOIFE O’DONOVAN
April 29 at 9:30pm, $15

Mike + Ruthy have been touring and recording together for thirteen years. A timeless original folk and blues duo from Woodstock, NY, their fan-funded CD "Million to One" rose to the top 20 on the Americana charts in 2010. On April 17th, 2012 they are excited to introduce THE NYC EP a collection of six compelling new songs which includes their newly re-crafted Woody Guthrie ballad "My New York City." Mike + Ruthy concerts celebrate the soul of Americana through witty, spellbinding stories and songs featuring fiddle, banjo, guitar, ukulele and their hallmark, white-knuckle-tight harmony singing.

Aoife O’Donovan (pronounced EEF-ah) grew up in a musical family, immersed in folk music. She went on to study contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music in her hometown of Boston. Since her first professional engagement singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers, she has maintained a wide variety of side projects and collaborations, working with numerous other artists including Ollabelle, Sometymes Why, Karan Casey and Seamus Egan, Jerry Douglas, Jim Lauderdale, Darol Anger, Sarah Jarosz, Sara Watkins, Christina Courtin, Noam Pikelny and Chris Thile (The Punch Brothers). Most recently she has recorded and performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile as a guest vocalist on The Goat Rodeo Sessions.

THE OLD CEREMONY / THE UNIVERSAL THUMP
May 5 at 9:00pm, $15

The Old Ceremony draws plays lush, literate rock.With over six years of touring and four albums under their belt, the Durham/Chapel Hill, NC band occupies its own darkly lit corner of the musical world. It is a corner filled with ominous rumblings and world-weary but hopeful characters. TOC has performed with CAKE, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Chuck Berry, Polyphonic Spree, Mountain Goats, and Avett Brothers, and was included in PASTE Magazine's "Top 100 Albums of 2006." They are currently working on their first film score, for a new Ed Asner film, and Their newest album, Tender Age, is available now on Alyosha Records. TOC is led by songwriter Django Haskins, and includes bassist Matt Brandau, drummer Dan Hall, vibes/organist Mark Simonsen, and violinist/keyboardist Gabriel Pelli.

The Universal Thump is a Brooklyn-based band led by singer-songwriter & producer Greta Gertler and drummer/producer, Adam D. Gold. For the past few years they've been submerged in a basement recording studio near the Gowanus Canal, recording an orchestral pop double-album featuring over 60 musicians. Inspired partly by Melville's 'Moby Dick' and their own whale-watching expeditions, The Universal Thump has toured throughout Australia, Europe and the West Coast USA. In 2010, they performed George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" in its entirety for its 40th Anniversary, in 'whale-of-sound' mode (18 piece band plus guest vocalists Shara Worden, Missy Higgins, John Wesley Harding, Dayna Kurtz and others). On May 5, they will be releasing "Flora" their first music video and single.

MEGAN PALMER / ALEX BATTLES
May 5 at 11:30pm, $12 Advance / $15 Door

At this pre-release show, singer-songwriter Megan Palmer will play for her 4th album “Waycross” in its entireity with her band The Top Flights. “Waycross” features 10 new tracks recorded on Van Halen’s old tape machine by Mitch Rackin at Seaside Studios in Park Slope, Brooklyn . All songs were composed by the Ohio-born Palmer as she transitioned from a decade in Columbus to her new life in New York City.The Top Flights are made up of Palmer’s fellow Ohio transplants, Larry Cook on bass, Steve Purcell on drums, and Kate Sland on backing vocals augmented by New York’s own Jason Crosby (Susan Tedeschi, Blind Boys of Alabama, Robert Randolph) on organ and Philidelphia’s Scott Metzger (Rana, Joss Stone) on guitar. Megan’s previous releases include two collaborations with Grammy Award-winning producer Jeff Caimpa, “Forget Me Not” in 2006 and “Old 33” in 2010, and one, 2007’s “Take You Away”, recorded in Joshua Tree, CA with Tim Easton.

Alex Battles is a songwriter. His compositions range from country weepers to folk ballads and rock stompers. He sings and plays the songs with his band The Whiskey Rebellion. The Whiskey Rebellion contains six members, including Battles, dedicated to making a roof-shaking joyful hodgepodge of honky-tonk, jump blues, and rock 'n' roll.

CMA SONGWRITER SERIES

FEATURING PHIL VASSAR, CRAIG WISEMAN, AL ANDERSON, AND HOSTED BY BOB DIPIERO
May 9 at 6:30pm & 9:00pm, $35 Reserved / $40 Premium

Joe's Pub and the Country Music Association are proud to announce the continuation of the successful CMA (Country Music Association) Songwriter Series with some of Nashville’s finest songwriters. Bob DiPiero will return as host. CMA Songwriters Series is proudly sponsored by American Airlines, ASCAP, BMI and GAC.

Phil Vassar is a Virginia-born songwriter and musician that undoubtedly made his mark in Nashville as an acclaimed artist. Phil’s known not only for his gift for hit songwriting, but also for his compelling and highly entertaining skills on the piano. His uniquely piano-based, rhythm and blues-infused, infectiously buoyant brand of music has carried Phil throughout his career and remains his specialty in the genre. His resume boasts numerous hits for artists including Alan Jackson, Tim McGRaw, Jo Dee Messina, and Collin Raye, and many more hits as an artist in his own right. He’s been named the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year twice and has taken top honors from the Academy of Country Music, Billboard MusicRow, and also honored by the the CMA’s.

Craig Michael Wiseman has been active since the late 1980s as a songwriter, he has had his songs recorded by Tim McGRaw, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, and several other acts. His credits include the Number One singles "The Good Stuff" by Kenny Chesney and "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGRaw, which were declared by Billboard as the Number One country songs for the years of 2002 and 2004, respectively; "Live Like You Were Dying" also earned Wiseman the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

Alan Gordon "Al" Anderson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Between 1971 and the early 1990s, he was the lead guitarist in the rock band NRBQ, also releasing several solo albums. He also played electric guitar on JoNathan Edwards' 1973 album Have a Good Time for Me. In the 1990s, Anderson shifted his focus to country music, writing hits for such acts as Carlene Carter, Vince Gill, Diamond Rio and Trisha Yearwood, as well as Tim McGRaw's Number One hit "The Cowboy in Me" and several album cuts.

MARY GAUTHIER, SPECIAL GUEST Ed Romanoff
May 11 at 7:00pm, $25

Since her debut in 1997, critics have consistently heralded Mary Gauthier. Her breakthrough album, Mercy Now (2005) was continuously “discovered” and lauded for the two years following its release, earning mentions on a score of year-end “best of” lists in ‘05, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and No Depression. Her most recent release, Between Daylight and Dark (2007) was praised by Paste Magazine. Her newest effort, “The Foundling” was produced by Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies.

Ed Romanoff has lived in VA, WY, and NY collecting an array of songs ranging from cattle ranches to carnivals. He co-wrote and toured internationally with Mary Gauthier. “The Fifth of July,” with Mary Gauthier and Crit Harmon, won First Place for 'Best Lyrics' in the 2011 USA Songwriting Competition. His debut album was produced by Crit Harmon and features Josh Ritter, Tift Merritt, Mary Gauthier and Meg Hutchinson.

MARTA GOMEZ
May 12 at 9:30pm, $18

Graduated from the Berklee College of Music, Marta Gómez has developed an extensive music career which has placed her as one of the most interesting singer songwriters on the world music scene today.Marta and her group perform a repertoire of original compositions based on a vast amount of rhythms from Latin America. With her songs, Marta mixes the joy of the Caribbean with the nostalgia of the Andes adding jazz and pop elements, taking the authenticity of South American indigenous folk music into a new realm.With more than 80 composed songs, This young singer-songwriter not only traverses a whole range of Colombian cumbias and bambucos, Argentine zambas, chilean cuecas, Bolivian carnavalitos and Peruvian festejos but she also writes the kind of melodies and refrains that translates across any language barrier. Marta is nourished by the everyday stories, and from this nostalgia, songs emerge with a deep social and human content.

JEFFREY FOUCAULT WITH SPECIAL GUEST SEAN ROWE
May 13 at 7:00pm, $20

Longtime disciple of the rich and strange music that sings behind the American veil, Jeffrey Foucault has spent the last decade mining the darker seams of country and blues, producing a string of spare and elemental albums of rare power while garnering accolades across the United States and overseas for a tersely elegant brand of songwriting set apart by its haunting imagery and weather-beaten cool. He lives in Western Massachusetts.On the song "Night," from Sean Rowe's forthcoming ANTI debut, “Magic”, the singer turns his rich, unnerving baritone to a moment of childhood innocence. Back then, he muses, you could fall "like a floating leaf," and the earth would "look up at you and smile." Rowe's deep, magical voice is nothing if not wise and experienced; he knows full well that after the innocence comes the fall. This ability to conjure dueling emotions - the elation of childhood versus the bruising of real life - marks the arrival of a skilled lyricist and songwriter.

AMBER RUBARTH WITH SPECIAL GUESTS Dave Eggar & DEORO
May 14 at 9:30pm, $12

Amber Rubarth has become a fixture in New York's indie scene, named #1 Best of NYC Songwriter by Deli Magazine last year and grand prize winner of NPR's Mountain Stage New Song Contest. Her fourth album A Common Case of Disappearing produced by Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings of Leon, Norah Jones) highlights her raw, vulnerable voice against a driving band. The album debuted at #13 on iTunes Songwriter charts and features duets with Jason Reeves and Jason Mraz. Over the past 7 years Amber has toured Europe, Japan and the US, including recent appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center Atrium. She is currently composing the score for the upcoming documentary Desert Runners. Her songs have attracted enthusiastic praise from NPR All Songs Considered, The Huffington Post, BBC Radio, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and a Sun Studio Session airing nation-wide on PBS.

Dave Eggar’s body of work is consistently greeted with superlatives and rave reviews. It’s a luxury not often enjoyed by an artist who records in diverse genres and performs live in multiple musical categories, seamlessly moving between each, be it Pop, Rock, Jazz, R&B, New Age, World or Classical music. His ability to effortlessly blur the lines between any musical style is truly unique. That's the magic of Dave Eggar.

BETH ORTON WITH SPECIAL GUEST SELAH SUE
May 15 at 7:00pm & 9:30pm, $28 Advance / $30 Door

Beth Orton is a Brit Award-winning English singer-songwriter who has released five albums to great critical international acclaim. Known for her much imitated sound which mixed elements of folk and electronica, she is also renowned for her collaborations with the Chemical Brothers, and also for her albums Central Reservation and the UK top 10 hit Daybreaker. Her 2006 release, Comfort of Strangers, saw her completely move away from the electronica style, to a much more stripped down folk-based album. Well-known single releases are the hits "She Cries Your Name" and "Stolen Car" and Beth has also received much attention for her stirring cover of The Five Stair Steps' "Ooh Child".

Selah Sue turns her doubts into soul, funk and reggae melodies, trying hard to be worthy of her idols, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Bob Marley. Thousands of fans have responded to her on the net, attracting the interest of Because Music, which eventually lead to a record deal for the young musician. Then Farhot (Nneka) and Patrice took on the production of her first album. Meshell Ndegeocello stayed with her in the studio for two days to produce the track "Mommy.” Cee Lo Green agreed to accompany her on a duet and ended up asking her to put the track ("Please") on his own album.

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD WITH SPECIAL GUEST VAN PRESTON
May 17 at 7:00pm, $18

Ray Wylie Hubbard writes the kind of songs that make you want to ride along no matter where he's going, because you know it's gonna get strange somewhere along the way. The references to Muddy Waters being as deep as William Blake ("I really do believe it,' Ray says) and lipstick pickups, resonator slides, the dreams of drunken poets, deceased call girls, opium, wasp's nests, clouds growing a tail, his ability to segue seamlessly from primal exclamations of carnal lust into songs about salvation without pausing for irony; and a craftsmanship that manages to rhyme mescaline and gasoline and Volkswagen with dragon while painting vivid portraits of characters both real and unreal, all evoke a sense of place that is larger than life but in no way made up. Nominated for 3 Americana music awards in 2010 including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, Ray Wylie Hubbards latest album cements his place in the American songwriter cannon.

A cross between the Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Kelly Willis and Sweet Emmylou Harris, Van Preston is a mixture of Country, Americana, Blues and a little bit Rock and Roll. Hailing from Arkansas and writing songs since she was nine, her songs are authentic and heartfelt. Pull up a chair and pour yourself a glass of sweet tea, and enjoy.

ELLIS PAUL WITH SPECIAL GUEST PEYTON TOCHTERMAN
May 18 at 7:00pm, $22 Advance / $25 Door

Ellis Paul is one of the leading voices in American songwriting. He was a principle leader in the wave of singer/songwriters that emerged from the Boston folk scene, creating a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk pop style that helped renew interest in the genre in the 1990's. His charismatic, personally authentic performance style has influenced a generation of artists away from the artifice of pop, and closer towards the realness of folk. Though he remains among the most pop-friendly of today's singer-songwriters - his songs regularly appear in hit movie and TV soundtracks - he has bridged the gulf between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger more successfully than perhaps any of his songwriting peers. Second only to Aerosmith in the amount of Boston Music Awards received (12), Ellis Paul has been skyrocketing into the public eye, and for good reason.

Born in Virginia, living in the musical hotbed of Charlottesville, Peyton Tochterman has just recorded his debut national release, A NEW WORLD. Produced by Sam Wilson (Sons of Bill), the project features songstress Stacey Earle and nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Ellis Paul.Peyton is and has been many things.

RACHAEL SAGE, CD RELEASE SHOW
May 19 at 9:30pm, $12

Singer, songwriter and producer Rachael Sage returns to Joe's Pub with her first new set of songs since 2010's critically acclaimed "Delancey Street". Her new album, "Haunted by You", is her 10th collection of original material in just over a decade, and marks the beginning of her new love-affair with the guitar. A self-taught pianist since the age of 3, for her latest album Sage turned to a 1966 Martin acoustic for inspiration, after a series of relationships gone awry and in a conscious effort to break out of her comfort zone. The result is some of her most direct, vulnerable material to date, and what she describes as "a song-cycle about passion". The album, self-produced by Sage and mixed by 2012 Grammy® Nominees John Shyloski (Johnny Winter) and Kevin Killen (Elvis Costello), includes guest appearances by singer-songwriter Dar Williams, actor/director Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project), Counting Crows member David Immergluck, and guitarist Jack Petruzelli (Patti Smith Band).

TWANG TWANG SHOCK A BOOM, PART OF MICHAEL ARTHUR’S “JUST DRAWN THAT WAY” DRAWING SERIES
May 20 at 9:30pm, $15 Advance / $17 Door

Experience one of the most breathtaking musical projects Austin has ever seen. The ebullient acoustic trio of Davíd Garza (newly enshrined in the Austin Music Hall of Fame), Jeff Haley, and Chris Searles cranks out quirky, organically hilarious tunes with the bare-bones setup of guitar, upright bass, and a guitar case standing in for drums. Outstanding musicians in their own right-having toured individually with the likes of Fiona Apple, Alejandro Escovedo and The Flatlanders--Twang Twang Shock-a-Boom return for their only show this year anywhere. Joining them on stage will Joe's Pub in-house illustrator Michael Arthur whose flights of fancy guarantee an amazing collaboration.

PETER HIMMELMAN
May 21 at 7:00pm, $18 Advance / $20 Door

During his multi-pronged career as a singer, songwriter and all-around performer, as a children's entertainer, TV and film composer and pioneering webcast star, Peter Himmelman has maintained remarkably high standards.Recorded on a dare – his own – to work faster and more under the gun, and closer to the quick of the creative process, Himmelman's new Himmasongs album, "The Mystery and the Hum," tumbled out of him with no planning or preparation. Holed up in a Minneapolis studio, far from the comforts of his home in Santa Monica, Calif., this native of St. Louis Park, MN, wrote the tunes over a two-week period and cut them in three days. Though he co-produced them with his friend Rob Genedek, who operates the studio, he raised the stakes of his experiment by hooking up with "house" musicians with whom he had never played, taking it on trust that if bassist Jim Anton and drummer Billy Thommes were good enough to run with Jonny Lang, they were good enough to ride the sonic rapids with him.

Ultimately, great artists are more than the sum of their recordings. More than the sum of their performances. More than the sum of their press clippings.

CHUCK PROPHET & MISSION EXPRESS
May 22 at 7:00pm & 9:30pm, $20

For most of his life, San Francisco has been Chuck Prophet's muse...or more accurately, his drug of choice. "It can suck you under. That first hit. It really does a whammy to you. And if you're like me you can find yourself chasing the San Francisco dragon for the rest of your life. That's what the record is about. "Named for the ill-fated rock club of the same name, Temple Beautiful was "made in San Francisco, by San Franciscans about San Francisco." Roy Loney, vocalist and wildman in legendary Bay Area band The Flamin' Groovies contributes guest vocals to the title track. One of the driving forces behind cult heroes Green on Red and the influential L.A. Paisley Underground scene in the 1980s, Prophet's creative mold was actually cast in San Francisco. Recalls Prophet, "Temple Beautiful is the name of a long closed rock and roll club which was between Bill Graham's iconic Fillmore Ballroom and the tragic storefront church founded by the Reverend Jim Jones. It's where I saw my first gigs." Inspired by current San Francisco artists, Prophet felt compelled to pay tribute to the history and weirdness that brought him to the city nearly 30 years ago. "There's a kind of rock and roll psych renaissance going on in this town at the moment with bands like Thee Oh Sees, Girls, The Fresh and Onlys, Kelley Stoltz and Sonny and the Sunset's. I'm very encouraged by all this stuff going on here."

WILLIE NILE
May 24 at 7:00pm, $25

Willie Nile's album “Streets of New York” was hailed as “a platter for the ages” by Uncut magazine. He has been called "a one-man Clash" (Uncut) and his critically acclaimed albums have gotten rave reviews around the world. Bono, Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams, Jim Jarmusch, Adam Duritz and Little Steven are among those who have sung his praises. Willie Nile is a songwriters’ songwriter and his live performances are legendary. He has toured across the U.S. opening for The Who at the personal request of the band and sang with Bruce Springsteen at Giant Stadium. Bruce recently joined Willie on stage in Asbury Park for Willie’s song “Heaven Help the Lonely”.

SYDNEY WAYSER
May 24 at 9:30pm, $12

Along the sonic tidal flats that Sydney Wayser built in her mind for her latest album, it is always sunny and 75 degrees. Clouds crown the majesty of the mountains, and the beaches are the stuff of postcards; the sand grain sifted to a perfect warmth, the water always calm. That this place is ostensibly fictional is no barrier to getting there, thanks to Wayser's third record, the gorgeous and varied "Bell Choir Coast." It is an atlas, a map past difficult years and emotional terrain, to a place of self-understanding and agency. The road that brought Wayser to "Bell Choir Coast" started two years ago; Wayser found herself in a gorgeous studio with a talented producer, in the midst of a New York winter that made the Los Angeles-bred Wayser completely miserable. "I was working on a record for a while and it wasn't clicking. After all the work I had put in I was left feeling drained. I felt like I needed to take a minute for myself and create the concept behind the record." With the problem of the New York winter proving unavoidable, Wayser decided that if she couldn't go elsewhere, she'd bring other lands to her. Drawing on all of her influences, from summers the French-American Wayser spent in France to painters and other artists, Wayser began to give her new territory shape and shade. "'Bell Choir Coast' is about a fictional land that I made up, because I couldn't leave New York and I had to make my record. So I made up a new world in my head that was everything I wanted." In addition to constructing the land, she also created its ideal denizen, Clara-Nova, a distillation of all the qualities Wayser most wished to possess. "She's the newer version of myself. She's a hybrid between Athena, Joan of Arc and Aphrodite. She's a power woman, but still really feminine."

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Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, reopened October 4th, 2011 from a top to bottom renovation, debuted in October 1998 and quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. With its genre-blind booking and vast diversity of interests, the stage at Joe's Pub gives voice to a world of varied and stellar artists. Joe’s Pub is open seven days a week, regularly hosting as many as three shows a day. Dinner and drink service is available during every performance. In addition to its reputation of presenting internationally known stars, Joe’s Pub has also developed into a premier showcase stage for up-and-coming musicians and emerging artists from a variety of disciplines.