Joe's Pub Welcomes Rob Lewis, Big Farm / janus, Matt Duke

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has 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.

OCT 28-31

JON NABEREZNY & THE WEST SIDE TRIO

Thursday, October 28 at 7:30 PM; $15

Jon Naberezny grew up in Youngstown, Ohio absorbing all the sounds a young musician could hear in a tough American steel town. Jazz , blues , folk, rock, popular standards and even a bit of Broadway. Naberezny's returns to Joe's Pub with music from his latest release: a collection of original songs titled "Concentric Hearts" on the Fullblast Recordings label. A modern pop album spoken in a jazz language and very much in the tradition of the American Songbook. Backed by The Westside Trio ( Marc Puricelli, piano; Chris Hughes, drums; John Loehrke, bass) a world class jazz unit, makes for one unforgettable evening.

A NIGHT WITH ROB LEWIS AND FRIENDS

Thursday, October 28 at 9:30 PM; $14

Join multi-platinum producer, songwriter, arranger and musical director Rob Lewis in a night of music delivered by some of the best in the music industry and the Broadway community. Be inspired, entertained and uplifted, as Rob blends narratives with the artistry of each performer and performance.

BIG FARM / JANUS

Friday, October 29 at 7:00 PM; $12

New Amsterdam Records presents a special record release event featuring janus and Big Farm.

The janus trio celebrates its debut record entitled "i am not", officially released on November 16th. Featured on the concert will be work by Ryan Brown, Caleb Burhans, Jason Treuting, Angelica Negron, Anna Clyne, and Cameron Britt. Paired with janus will be a rare performance by the prog-oriented new music supergroup Big Farm, comprised of world-renowned guitarist/composer Steven Mackey, vocalist, lyricist, and Pultizer-prize finalist Rinde Eckert, drummer Jason Treuting (of So Percussion), and bassist Mark Haanstra.

THE OLD CEREMONY: TENDER AGE CD RELEASE

Friday, October 29 at 9:30 PM; $15

The Old Ceremony's fourth record, Tender Age, expertly weaves together the musical threads of the band's six year evolution from a sprawling ‘pop-noir' orchestra into a tight five-piece cinematic rock band. TOC is fronted by songwriter/singer/guitarist Django Haskins, and includes vibraphonist/organist Mark Simonsen, violinist/keyboardist Gabriel Pelli, bassist Matt Brandau, and drummer Dan Hall. Haskins' songwriting has never been stronger or more adventurous, including a song in Mardarin Chinese, and the band members have grown into their roles with grace and mastery.

Following on the challenging, textural album Walk on Thin Air, Tender Age offers both immediate pleasures and the delayed rewards reserved for repeated listens. This is a rock album that should be listened to in a dark room.

The Old Ceremony tours all across the US and Canada and saves their finest moments for the ephemera of live shows, but Tender Age goes a long way toward capturing the charm, energy, and variety of seeing this unique band in concert. Recorded at Sound of Music in Richmond, VA by Al Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Cracker) as well as at Studio M in Durham by longtime TOC engineer Thom Canova, with production help from Chris Stamey, and guest group vocals from members of Love Language, Annuals, and Schooner, Tender Age has something for everyone who's ever sat on the floor, lost in their headphones.

MATT DUKE

Saturday, October 30 at 7:00 PM; $12

Anyone who caught singer-songwriter Matt Duke at his early shows in the Philadelphia area or on the Lower East Side a few years back would have discovered an artist whose musical vocabulary was nothing short of astonishing. His tee-shirt/jeans/baseball cap attire may have seemed reassuringly familiar, but Duke's performances immediately took listeners into uncharted territory. A self-taught guitarist, Duke's acoustic playing was often full of abrupt stops and starts, unexpected changes of direction, complex rhythms that came off more like jazz than folk or rock, challenging the limits of his acoustic instrument. His voice could be quietly confessional at first, then escalate to an impassioned wail, as startlingly intense by the end of a song as it was gently intimate at the start. In a world of heart-on-their-sleeve singer-songwriters, Duke pushed past the conventions of the genre, combining elements of jazz, folk and pop, even grunge and progressive rock, with unbridled emotion to create a sound very much his own.

STRAIGHT UP VAMPIRE
The History Of Vampires In Colonial Pennsylvania As Performed To The Music Of Paula Abdul

Saturday, October 30 at 9:00 & Sunday, October 31 at 7:00 PM; $15

book by Nick Jones, Zak Vreeland and Peter James Cook

directed by Peter James Cook

music and lyrics by Paula Abdul,

music direction by Michael Iannantuono,

with music performed by Dr Steam Whipple and the Prescriptions

It's 1763 and there are vampires in Philadelphia.

Paula Abdul Blackwood is a beautiful young Quaker girl being forced into marriage with the wheelwright's son.

Jack Sheridan, a politically idealistic young vampire, is the man she loves.

Everywhere there is dissent. Fractious parties debate the future of the colony.

MC Skat Kat and Benjamin Franklin vie for power in the Assembly.

With Drae Campbell, Justin Noble, Diane O'Debra, Tanya O'Debra, Jason Quarles, Megan Stern, Corey Sullivan, and Corn-Mo as Dr. Benjamin Franklin

TAJ WEEKES & ADOWA

Saturday, October 30 at MIDNIGHT; $14

Taj Weekes & Adowa present a brand new experience in "classic roots reggae for the conscious mind." With wry trenchant lyrics, a haunting dusky quiver in his voice and the knock-down sound of his band Adowa, Taj Weekes weaves a rare social consciousness with an unforgettable reggae groove.

In 2008, Taj Weekes & Adowa released their much-anticipated second album, DEIDEM, to exceptional reviews. The album, in radio rotation worldwide, was named by Billboard Magazine as one of "Six Essential Albums Heralding Roots Rock's Resurgence," and was shortlisted for the Grammy Awards. DEIDEM won the Best Reggae Album award at the Just Plain Folks Music Awards and Angry Language and Little Fire were nominated for Best Reggae Song

Hailing from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, the group's founder, singer/songwriter Taj Weekes, has been noted for "raising the level of songwriting within the idiom of reggae music," by veteran reggae music journalist and XM Satellite Radio program director, Dermot Hussey.

"Yes, Taj Weekes is different. As a reggae lyricist who is unafraid of being undogmatic, he's certainly different from most of his peers, and even from the man he was in his own first album. He uses his unusual voice unusually well. His arrangements take great advantage of his fine backing vocalists and his crack team of musicians, including horn section. He writes beautiful tunes. Deidem has it all." - The Beat Magazine

JUSTIN BOND

Sundays, October 31, November 7, 14, 21, December 5 at 9:30 PM; $20

"Justin Bond is a trans-Atlantic cabaret messiah" - Time Out London

Recently described as "A bar of gold in the new depression" by Hilton Als in the New Yorker, singer, songwriter and Tony-nominated performance artist Justin Bond is an Obie, Bessie and Ethyl Eichelberger Award winner and was named one of the top 40 favorite New Yorkers by Time Out New York and was listed by Time Out London as one of England's 50 Funniest People. His debut EP Pink Slip was released in July 2009. In 2008, he won rave reviews for his GLAAD nominated show Lustre which premiered at PS122 in the East Village and then went on to tour the UK with stops in Manchester, England as part of the It's Queer Up North Arts Festival and in a critically acclaimed run at London's Soho Theatre. Also in 2008, Justin appeared at The Southbank Center in London in the title role of Sinderella an original musical written by Martyn Jacques of The Tiger Lillies. In 2007, he premiered Justin Bond is Close To You, a reinterpretation of the classic Carpenter's album Close To You performed in its entirety as part of Joe's Pub in the Park in Central Park and subsequently presented by The Sydney Opera House in Australia. He regularly Emcees the performance series Weimar New York which has played in such varied locations as the SFMOMA, The Speigeltent, and Joe's Pub at the Public Theater in New York.

As one-half of the Performance duo Kiki and Herb, Justin has toured the world headlining at Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and starred in successful runs on Broadway and off-Broadway. Kiki and Herb have released two cds, Do You Hear What We Hear?, Kiki and Herb Will Die For You at Carnegie Hall and a DVD Kiki and Herb Live at the Knitting Factory.

Film credits include a starring role in John Cameron Mitchell's feature Shortbus, Charles Hermann-Wurmfeld's Fancy's Persuasion as well as Imaginary Heroes and Jon Moritsugu's Mod Fuck Explosion. In 2006 Bond completed his MA Scenography at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London. Justin credits his career as a queer performer to Kate Bornstein who cast him as Herculine Barbin in her ground-breaking play Hidden: A Gender in 1991.

TICKETS
Online at joespub.com, Phone 212-967-7555,

In Person At the Public Theater Box Office (1 PM to 6 PM), or at the Joe's Pub Box Office from (6 PM to 10 PM) both located at 425 Lafayette Street, NYC

For table reservations please call 212-539-8778. Purchase of tickets does NOT guarantee a table reservation; you must call to reserve seats. Seating, as well as standing-room, is available only on a first-come, first-served basis for all shows without a dinner reservation. Two drink or $12 food minimum per person is standard.

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