The Chart Show: Messersmith leads the pack
by Mark Wheat
January 09, 2014
After taking two weeks off to summarize last year we have a massive turn over this week with NINE new entries. Jeremy Messersmith remains at the top, however, starting off a big year for him! His new record label Glassnote (Mumford & Sons, CHVRCHES) has just released another song "Ghost" as the first official single from the new album Heart Murmurs, out Feb. 4. He'll be playing at the Sundance and SXSW this spring and kicks off his tour next week in Chicago at Tomorrow Never Knows Festival. He plays two hometown shows at First Avenue on Feb. 21 and 22.
Speaking of First Avenue, Arctic Monkeys have already sold out their mainroom appearance on Valentine's Day. It's going to be another big year for them, too, as they also play Madison Square Garden for the first time on this tour. Voted band of the year by Mojo, lead singer Alex Turner, who turned 28 Jan. 6, said in an interview that he thought "them down under" won the year musically in 2013, citing Jagwar Ma specifically.
The Preatures, another band to arrive from Australia last year, held on and were inducted into our Chart Hall of Fame this week. They're playing some festival dates at home right now before going to Europe in Feb. and hopefully coming to the States in the spring.
You can still get tickets for another cheeky Brit who's at 14 this week, Jake Bugg. He'll play First Ave on Jan. 17. He's going to do a special UBS Forum session with us earlier that day and we'll be giving you a chance to win tickets to that, too.
Strong start for locals in the new year. A very high new entry for Caroline Smith who'll be one of the guests at The Current's 9th Birthday Party at First Avenue Jan. 24 and 25. Tickets go on sale Jan. 8 at noon for MPR Members on The Current's website. The general public can buy tickets at The Depot on Jan. 8 at noon, or online on Jan. 9 at noon.
Dan Wilson, a favorite son of the Twin Cities despite his move to California, has a new album due in the spring which will include #11 this week, "Disappearing". Jeff Tweedy, leader of Chicago based Wilco, is almost an adopted son of Minnesota and enters at #18 with one of the best songs from one of my favorite albums of last year, Songs For Slim, a compilation which showcases the great songwriting of local legend Slim Dunlap.