The Bowery Presents

The Mercury Lounge upcoming shows

Late Show

Adam Hertz & the Interns
11:30
Caitlin Krisko & the Broadcast
10:30

sami.the.great
9:30

Venue:
The Mercury Lounge
Date:
Fri 8/27
Notes:
21+
Doors: 9:30 PM / Show: 9:30 PM
$10
Tickets
Adam Hertz & the Interns
myspace
Adam Hertz can kill a man with just one note. His interns are renown the world over for keeping you on life support just so they can put it on their resumes. Born on the Bayou, which means Kangaroo’s Toenail, he was raised by a group of male chickens and a crocodile named Scott. His music is an amalgamation of Tuvan throat singing, the mating calls of southern Baptist penguins, and the cries of a newborn hammerhead shark. Hertz learned his craft studying biochemical engineering at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in western Latvia. He lost his limbs in a drive-through accident, but they grew back on their own after watching an episode of Perfect Strangers.

Hertz doesn’t speak English, or any language for that matter. He doesn’t speak or sing the blues – he is the blues. He first realized this when a female friend told him she was going to get a few Dr. Peppers from the fridge and never came back, leaving him in state of perpetual sadness. Fortunately, his tears have been known to cure severe cases of syphilis.

Forget about the world’s best blues musicians – Tiramusu Timothy, Gluestick Gregory, Spicy Tuna Roll Rachel – their times have come and gone. As the President of Canada once said, “Adam Hertz smells like guacamole and cheesecake.”
Caitlin Krisko & the Broadcast
official website
myspace
It’s impossible to resist the sultry sound of Caitlin Krisko, the singer/songwriter from New York City whose hypnotic voice and mellow folk rhythms cast an enchanting spell over mind, body and soul.

Originally from a suburb outside Detroit, MI, Caitlin found her musical calling at 13, when her mother packed up their belongings and moved the two to NYC. It was here, in what Caitlin calls her home and creative sanctuary, that the singer/songwriter attended the Professional Performing Arts School. After graduating in 2003, Caitlin continued her studies at Circle in the Square, a prestigious arts conservatory that, according to her, “completely rewired my brain in the way I perceive and receive life in its entirety.”

Caitlin’s acoustic sound is rooted in her diverse appreciation of music, from the beautiful melodies of Joni Mitchell and the strength of Janis Joplin to the poetic lyrics of Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows. She is also moved by the great rock legends Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and of course, the Beatles.

Caitlin recorded her EP, The Unintelligible Truth, in 2006 at Galuminum Foil Productions in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She has performed at NYC’s The Bitter End and headlined at The International Music Festival in Belize. She has performed throughout NYC at venues including Highline Ballroom, Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room, Pianos, and Mercury Lounge. The artist also scored two national ad campaigns for Eucerin Lotion and CapriSun.

Recently, Caitlin finished a summer calendar saturating NYC with a group of overwhelmingly talented musicians who have so appropriately coined themselves "The Broadcast". Six musicians make up this powerhouse group: Mark Anselm on electric guitar, Dave Rosenthal on bass, Rich Brownstein ..s Michael Davis on drums and Tyler Householder on percussion. Keep an ear out for when they're playing next!

When asked what sets her music apart, Caitlin replied, “I believe in the movement behind music and its ability to communicate experiences in a way that allows others to not only relate but also feel inspired by new thoughts and ideas. Universal unity is an unrealistic goal, but I do believe we can do a whole lot better than this by affecting the world around us. In my life, music plays a key part in this movement.”
sami.the.great
official website
myspace
There is a moment in every artist's life when her desire to create morphs into a need to share with the world; when the evolving elements of inspiration and experience coalesce into a unified artistic purpose. It's happened to everyone driven to create for a living, but rarely in artistic history has that moment involved John Mayer.

Yes, Sami Akbari, known musically as sami.the.great, became conscious of her desire to pursue music thanks to an encounter with John Mayer. It wasn't his music (or his overwhelming capacity for humility), but was more about a transitory experience that opened Sami's eyes to what she could ultimately do with her powerhouse voice and flair for songwriting. While in college in Roanoke, Virginia, Sami was on a committee of students that arranged for bands to play at the school, and the second act they booked was John Mayer.

"This is an embarrassing story," Sami says. "It was right before he became famous. It was about two or three weeks before his first video came out, and he was already on tour and had some recognition. I don't think I was starstruck, but just the whole experience of being backstage and seeing him perform inspired me. I actually sat on his tour bus and sang 'Killing Me Softly' with him. After they left I felt a huge void, and I decided that I wanted to start writing music because I felt so connected to that whole experience."

Since that moment in 2002, Sami has been driven by her overwhelming desire to write and play music. She frequented open mic nights in college, often taking home cash prizes for her highly anticipated performances. She moved to New York City two weeks after receiving her degree in 2005, and quickly began landing gigs at local venues, including Pianos, Crash Mansion, and Rockwood Music Hall. In 2007, she self-released a four-song EP entitled Somebody Else's Stranger. Most significantly, over the past few years, Sami has become a staple of the famed Living Room in downtown Manhattan, fulfilling a long-time goal.

"When I first got to New York I felt like, 'I'm never gonna get a gig!' And then I got a gig, and then I got a couple more gigs," Sami says. "And then I felt like 'I'm never gonna play at the Living Room,' and now I've played there several times and done really well there. I just love that room. It's amazing place for a singer-songwriter, and to have a good response there is so gratifying. It's nice to know that even when I think something's not going to happen, it still might happen."

Now Sami is releasing a new EP, Nothing Left to See, which features five songs she has written over the past six years of her career and a cover of Sting's "Roxanne." With producer Uri Djemal and a group of musicians and friends, Sami began tracking in December of 2009 at Full Moon Farm in Medusa, NY, where the positive energy of the makeshift studio translated itself into the songs. The remaining tracks and vocals were recorded in Manhattan at Madpan Studios, where Sami recorded her first EP. The disc not only reveals the trajectory of Sami's songwriting career, but also her deft combination of emotion and wit, of melancholy and humor. Like her live show, the album reflects the notion that great things come in small packages and showcases a small-framed singer whose impassioned voice fills the spaces and lives around her.

"I think my main influence - as is the main influence of so many other people - is heartbreak," Sami explains. "But even though my songs are about a sadder subject, during my performances I like to be out there and funny. I like that balance. There's one song on my new EP called 'Love's a Losing Game,' which is a good representation of both those sides of me. The subject matter is sad - it's about liking someone who doesn't like you back, same old story - but the song itself is upbeat and poppy. I like the mixture of those things. The EP is a nice range of songs and I think they all relate to each other."

Now Sami, who performs both on piano and guitar, hopes to expand her sphere of influence beyond New York City, where she has become a formidable force in the music scene. Her songs generate a kinship with their listener, building a connection between the themes of her songs and the lives of her audience. Listening to her ethereal, soaring voice and absorbing her thoughtful, poetic lyrics, one has no inkling that John Mayer is to thank.
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