A taste of Jones & Raine last night was awesome!

Chris Edmonds, Julie Jones and Brian Raine of country smash Jones & Raine play a solo acoustic hour for Parker Library's Live Local Music Series at 7 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2010, at the library, a branch of Douglas County Libraries. They kicked some serious butt, and the 42 fans of both the band and the library LOVED life that night.

Next up: Get a mouthful of F.O.E., Westword's Best Hip-Hop MC of 2009, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the library!

Don't forget where to be next Saturday evening!

Support Local Music + Local Libraries + Local Music at Local Libraries -- all in one fell swoop!!

Man Common and BFoL ...

(Apologies for the poor quality!)

Where I'll B 2nite ...

(Yes. Again: too much Twitter.)

Anyway, I'm excited to say I'm going with three friends 2nite 2 see John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light CD Release Party for Beautiful Empty at Cassleman's in North Denver.

Says man Common of the show:

Invite your friends; they'll think you're urbane and fabulous. Come party it up with John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light, Achille Lauro, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, original independent short films inspired by the new record, and box art (also inspired by the new record).

I promise to try to remember to bring the office camera so I can post a brief video clip here in case you can't be there because you'll be over with the other hipsters -- such as my colleague Colbe Galston -- at George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic.

(Tough call!)

But, hey, Common's gotten A TON of press, including a well done piece in Westword by the always astute Dave Herrera -- whose writing is always a pleasure -- as well as a "Steal This Track" nod in Reverb (the song is "Same Scar"), which is put out by the last-standing newspaper of record Common lovingly calls Denver Postage.

I would not be surprised if this show ends up being sold out -- the buzz has been building for weeks -- but, if you can get tix, you should go without question. Notes Common via his Twitter feed:

Answer: Yes -- you can still get in to the show tonight! We have day of show tickets available at the door. :) See you soon!

Beautiful Empty is great. Or, as Herrera less inelegantly puts it:

They succeeded, because the first thing you notice about Beautiful Empty is its spaciousness: The voices of Common and [Jessica] De Nicola blend together seamlessly and never strain to compete with one other, much less with the other instruments. On the song "Same Scar," for example, moaning cello lines harmonize gracefully with an accordion as it inhales and exhales gently, weaving an impressively elegant backdrop.

(Yes. I know. As I said, I LOVE Dave Herrera's writing and read it as often as I can.)

You can check out samples from the CD all over the place -- the buzz, as I was saying, is, and please forgive the cliche: palpable -- as well as via the John Common website.

Tell me it isn't "impressively elegant."

And see you there?

Oh, and I almost forgot:

JOHN COMMON AND JESS DE NICOLA ARE COMING TO DO OUR LIL SERIES ON MARCH 27!

(SCORE4US!)

Stay tuned for deets!