John Wesley Harding In the Cabinet!

Musicians, authors, comedians, composers, ventriloquists - what's not to like?

By Blurt Staff

In support of his new record with the Minus Five, "Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead" (out March 10), John Wesley Harding will present JOHN WESLEY HARDING'S CABINET OF WONDERS at Le Poisson Rouge on Feb 11. The Cabinet of Wonders will take the shape of a variety show with a rotating cast of guest performers, hosted by and featuring John Wesley Harding.


The lineup for Feb 11 is:

· Jonathan Ames (author, HBO pilot, Bored to Death, with Jason Schwartzman)
· Rick Moody (author, The Ice Storm, Demonology, The Black Veil)
· Eugene Mirman (comedian, Flight of the Conchords)
· Shivaree (musician, Zoë Records)
· Carla Rhodes (rock and roll ventriloquist)
· P.T. Walkley (songwriter/film composer, Ed Burns collaborator)

More details can be read in the official press release, below, and watch BLURT next week for a special JWH feature as well. Also, check the video teaser below featuring JWH and Mirman - it's a hoot.

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Renowned singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding, hailed by Rolling Stone as, "a literate and ironic neo-folkie with enough bile to win over a younger, hipper audience not attuned to folk music," releases his latest album, Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead, on March 10 via Popover Corps/Rebel Group. In support of the record Harding will be hosting a three-show residency at New York City's Le Poisson Rouge on February 11, March 11 and April 15: John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders. Part variety show and part concert, the Cabinet of Wonders will draw together collaborators from the worlds of music, literature, comedy and even ventriloquism all hand-picked by Harding himself. "I wanted to bring together my novel writing friends (who mostly envy my musician friends) and my musician friends (who mostly envy my novel writing friends) under one flag," says Harding. "The fact is: I like everyone who's performing."

Among those performing with curator and host Harding are novelists Rick Moody and Colson Whitehead, comedian Eugene Mirman, and musicians Rosanne Cash, Graham Parker and Josh Ritter. Please see attached for a list of performers and show lineups.

Recorded with backing band The Minus Five (featuring Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck of REM), Who Was Changed is Harding's first rock album since 2004's Adam's Apple and finds him collaborating with the likes of Mike Viola (Candy Butchers), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and Kelly Hogan. Included with the new record is a live bonus CD, recorded at Brooklyn's Union Hall on October 27, 2008 with guest duettist Josh Ritter among others.

Since his critically acclaimed 1990 debut Here Comes the Groom (lauded by the LA Times as "the first great rock record of the `90s") John Wesley Harding has recorded 10 albums for both major (Sire, Hollywood) and independent (Mammoth, Rhino, Appleseed) labels alike. Recently Harding has authored a pair of novels under his given name, Wesley Stace, published by Little Brown in the U.S.: the internationally best-selling Misfortune (nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize) and by George (named a 2007 New York Public Library "Book to Remember"). Misfortune's film rights have already been optioned and his third novel is due late 2009.