Latest news with #400Unit
Calgary Herald
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Calgary Stampede, July 6: Politics and pancakes Tough choices for rodeo athletes
Prime Minister Mark Carney, Premier Danielle Smith and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made public appearances in Calgary Saturday as part of Stampede-related festivities. Article content Meanwhile, officials at CF Chinook Centre say their pancake breakfast as broken Guinness world record for number of pancakes served over a given length of time. Article content Article content Article content Article content The only ticketed show at the Big Four Roadhouse is led by Americana singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, an artist who enjoys cult-like devotion from his growing legion of fans. Released earlier this year, the acclaimed Foxes in the Snow was the songwriter's first acoustic solo album. However, he will backed by his 400 Unit, suggesting those songs will be suitably revved for the stage. Make sure you arrive early enough to see Alberta up-and-comer Noeline Hofmann, whose star has been on the rise since country superstar Zach Bryan recorded the very Albertan ballad Purple Gas with Hofmann for his 2024 album The Great American Bar Scene after hearing it on YouTube. Article content Article content Monday, July 7
Calgary Herald
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
From Shania Twain to teenage punk bands: Is Calgary Stampede the Greatest Music Festival in the West?
Article content What's on site Article content The four stages on the Stampede grounds include the Scotiabank Saddledome, which is offering Shania Twain, with opener Devin Cole, as its sole concert this year on July 5. This is unusual, given that there were four arena shows last year. But if you're only going to offer one stadium show, superstar Shania Twain is probably a safe bet. This is obviously a ticketed event. Article content The Big Four Roadhouse will also host the only other ticketed concert, on July 6, featuring Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Boy Golden, Noeline Hofmann, The Paper Kites and MJ Lendermen. All other shows are free with the price of admission, although they are restricted to those aged 18 and over after 6 p.m. Article content The Coca-Cola Stage will offer dozens of shows and all are free with the price of admission to the park. Article content Article content Article content The acts booked for the Nashville North tent tend to perform the sort of music most expect at the Stampede: mainstream and safe country that sounds like it came from a Nashville writing room even if it didn't. Article content So this is where you will see acts such as Tenille Townes (Thursday, July 3), Jade Eagleson (July 4), Drake Milligan (July 5), Midland (July 6), The Reklaws (July 10) and MacKenzie Porter (July 13), along with Alberta acts such as Hailey Benedict (July 5), Alex Hughes (July 7, 8, 9), Devin Cooper (July 7, 8, 9) and Mariya Stokes (July 10, 11, 12, 13). Article content Article content This may be the Stampede's most eclectic stage, where you will see the aforementioned Americana of Jason Isbell (if you buy a ticket), but also hip-hop artists such as De La Soul (July 8), Lil Jon (July 9) and Yung Gravy (July 11) and the folk and fiery-rock hybrid of Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello's solo work (July 12). The venue will also host local acts such as Jory Kinjo (July 10, 11, 12, 13) and Kate & The Comets (July 7, 8, 9). Article content Article content 'When we move to the Big Four Roadhouse it does vary a little bit,' Wright says. 'We started thinking about what that venue can really deliver on and it becomes a broader range of lineup. You could see country artists there, but you start to see more hip-hop, R&B and classic rock. It's our roadhouse, it's our party bar. You want to sip and savour and catch up. It's a different space. It feels different.' Article content Coca-Cola Stage Article content One of the Stampede's calling cards, programming for the Coca-Cola Stage, seems to have gotten increasingly more adventurous over the years. Once the domain of classic-rock and Nickelback wannabe acts, it now features a more eclectic bunch. This year that includes the aforementioned KALEO (July 4), Arkells (July 6) and Bleachers (July 10) but also alternative R&B songstress Tinashe (July 8), R&B and hip-hop songwriter Khalid and pop-punk mainstays Simple Plan (who have been playing for nearly 30 years, just in case you want to feel old).
The Hill
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
Michael Stipe, Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell headline album to benefit legal group battling Trump
Michael Stipe and Big Red Machine, 'The Joke' singer Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are among the artists featured on a new album from a left-leaning legal organization that has gone head-to-head with the Trump administration in the courts. Songs and spoken word pieces from the musicians will be included on 'Democracy Forward,' the group of the same name announced on Tuesday. The double album from Democracy Forward and the literary magazine The Bitter Southerner will begin shipping at the end of the month and is poised to be released on vinyl in early July. Other artists performing as part of the compilation album include Tyler Childers, Brittany Howard, Wilco and John Prine. 'We believe in the importance of our democracy and also our ability to save it,' Stipe said in a spoken word recording featured on the album, according to the group. 'The world is depending on us. This fight is not over. The day is not done,' the REM lead singer said. Last week, Democracy Forward represented a coalition of democracy groups in a lawsuit against the State Department that challenged an agreement struck by the Trump White House with the government of El Salvador to transport more than 200 migrants to a prison in the Central American country. 'At a time when so many communities across the nation are hurting and being targeted, music, art, and expression helps to bring people together in community, which creates the conditions for courage,' Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward's president and CEO, said in a statement about the album's release. 'We are incredibly grateful to the artists who have dedicated their music to support the American people's rights and our democracy during this consequential time. Each of us has a role to play in strengthening our democracy, and every voice matters,' Perryman said. All proceeds from the $46 musical project, which is available for pre-sale beginning this week, will benefit Democracy Forward's work, 'including the legal representation it provides free of charge for people and communities to defend their rights under the Constitution,' the organization said.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Music Review: An unplugged Jason Isbell electrifies on new album, 'Foxes in the Snow'
Jason Isbell unplugged can still electrify. An excellent bandleader, guitarist and singer, Isbell is first and foremost a songwriter, and that skill takes center stage on his new album, 'Foxes in the Snow,' which will be released Friday. It's Isbell's first solo acoustic album, and his first album since 2013 without his band, the 400 Unit. Accompanied by only his 1940 Martin acoustic guitar, Isbell sorts through romantic relationships. He sounds like someone trying to find his bearings. There's blood on the tracks. That's not surprising given that the album is Isbell's first since his breakup with singer-songwriter Amanda Shires after more than a decade of marriage. Some of the material sounds powerfully autobiographical, and that's especially true on the chorus of 'Gravelweed." 'I was gravelweed and I needed you to raise me / You couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raised,' he sings. "And now that I live to see my melodies betray me / I'm sorry the love songs all mean different things today.' Yes, the 2013 fan favorite 'Cover Me Up," written for Shires, does sound different now. Isbell sings about dangerous memories, dreams forgotten, the value of persistence, and the tug of his Alabama roots. 'Ride to Robert's' pays tribute to one of downtown Nashville's best honky-tonks, while 'Open and Close' skewers a bar band for mangling Steely Dan. (That's something he knows a little something about; Isbell spent a formidable stretch in a Steely Dan cover band.) Rich, lean language and imaginative turns of phrase are Isbell's specialty. 'I hope they're grading on a curve,' he sings. "Forever is a dead man's joke.' And later, 'You thought the truth was just a rumor.' All three come from just one song, 'Eileen.' Isbell is a terrific acoustic guitarist, and his playing here is subtle and superb. A Doc Watson-style riff provides the foundation for the title cut, while nifty filigrees augment the waltz 'Open and Close' and the opener 'Bury Me,' which sounds like a cowboy song from the '50s. That's the 1950s, or 1850s. In a brave experiment, Isbell is touring solo, testing whether or not these sturdy but sober songs are enough to hold the attention of several thousand spectators. At the moment, he's not in the mood to stomp and holler. ___ For more AP reviews of recent music releases, visit: Steven Wine, The Associated Press
Associated Press
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Music Review: An unplugged Jason Isbell electrifies on new album, ‘Foxes in the Snow'
Jason Isbell unplugged can still electrify. An excellent bandleader, guitarist and singer, Isbell is first and foremost a songwriter, and that skill takes center stage on his new album, 'Foxes in the Snow,' which will be released Friday. It's Isbell's first solo acoustic album, and his first album since 2013 without his band, the 400 Unit. Accompanied by only his 1940 Martin acoustic guitar, Isbell sorts through romantic relationships. He sounds like someone trying to find his bearings. There's blood on the tracks. That's not surprising given that the album is Isbell's first since his breakup with singer-songwriter Amanda Shires after more than a decade of marriage. Some of the material sounds powerfully autobiographical, and that's especially true on the chorus of 'Gravelweed.' 'I was gravelweed and I needed you to raise me / You couldn't reach me once I felt like I was raised,' he sings. 'And now that I live to see my melodies betray me / I'm sorry the love songs all mean different things today.' Yes, the 2013 fan favorite 'Cover Me Up,' written for Shires, does sound different now. Isbell sings about dangerous memories, dreams forgotten, the value of persistence, and the tug of his Alabama roots. 'Ride to Robert's' pays tribute to one of downtown Nashville's best honky-tonks, while 'Open and Close' skewers a bar band for mangling Steely Dan. (That's something he knows a little something about; Isbell spent a formidable stretch in a Steely Dan cover band.) Rich, lean language and imaginative turns of phrase are Isbell's specialty. 'I hope they're grading on a curve,' he sings. 'Forever is a dead man's joke.' And later, 'You thought the truth was just a rumor.' All three come from just one song, 'Eileen.' Isbell is a terrific acoustic guitarist, and his playing here is subtle and superb. A Doc Watson-style riff provides the foundation for the title cut, while nifty filigrees augment the waltz 'Open and Close' and the opener 'Bury Me,' which sounds like a cowboy song from the '50s. That's the 1950s, or 1850s. In a brave experiment, Isbell is touring solo, testing whether or not these sturdy but sober songs are enough to hold the attention of several thousand spectators. At the moment, he's not in the mood to stomp and holler.
