Live from the Artists Den

For Grammy winner Gary Clark Jr. it was an emotional homecoming in the club he legitimately calls “home” – Austin’s legendary “Home Of The Blues,” Antone’s Nightclub. Clark first played Antone’s as a fifteen-year-old obsessed with blues history and now he’s both one of the most respected and revered artists in blues and R&B, and in a full-circle move, a part-owner of the club’s latest iteration. His 20-song set for a crowd of 350 invited guests for the season finale of Live From the Artists Den featured songs from his 2012 breakthrough Blak and Blu and 2015’s genre-bending follow-up, The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim. Among the highlights of a night filled with fiery, jaw-dropping guitar heroism and bright flashes of a gorgeous falsetto, a loud, muscular take on “Bright Lights” and a supremely funky meditation on the impact of music, “The Healing.”

Damien Rice delivered an unforgettable performance at the Greenpoint Loft for his episode of Live from the Artists Den. The Irish singer-songwriter concentrated largely on material from his acclaimed new album, My Favorite Faded Fantasy. While the concert—in an intimate, in-the-round setting on the top floor of a 19th century warehouse on the Brooklyn waterfront—was mostly played solo, Rice thrilled the fans with a full choir backing him on “Trusty and True.”

Cage the Elephant brought their funky, soulfully psychedelic sound to the stage at the Santa Barbara Art Foundry for their episode of Live from the Artists Den. Thriving off the energy of the crowd of 400 invited guests, frontman Matt Shultz delivered an epic performance in an intimate setting, hurling himself around the small space like a man possessed, while the rest of the band equaled his intensity. The set, drawn mostly from the band’s Grammy-nominated album, Melophobia, ended with a shirtless Shultz held aloft by the cheering crowd, a triumphant exclamation point to an unforgettable night.

Alabama Shakes delivered a crushingly electric set at the rustic-chic Loveless Barn outside of Nashville, behind the famous Loveless Café. Beneath white lights strung from the rafters, the crowd of 500 cheered each song as the band delivered a thrillingly uninhibited show which aired as part of the ninth season of public television’s acclaimed series Live from the Artists Den. The six-piece band dashed through blistering rockabilly boogies, eruptive country-soul ballads, and plenty more from both their 2012 debut album, Boys & Girls, and the collection of new material earmarked for a much anticipated follow-up. Front woman Brittany Howard testified to the deeply felt truths of the songs with ferocious flamboyance, and her bandmates were with her all the way—gutsy, dynamic, and altogether riveting.

On a warm summer evening, the GRAMMY award-winning Zac Brown Band brought music back to the historic Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills, NY with a hit-filled performance for the sold out stadium crowd under the stars. Zac Brown Band, one of the most successful and critically-acclaimed acts of its generation, incorporated a mix of country, bluegrass, reggae, Southern rock, and jam music into its performance which included such fan favorites as the Caribbean-inspired “Jump Right In,” lush ballad “Colder Weather,” free spirited anthem “Free” before sending the frenzied crowd home with the boisterous “Day For The Dead” from the 2013 EP, The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1.

Historic Los Angeles theater Royce Hall, located on the UCLA campus, provided a spectacular backdrop for Jason Mraz’s taping of Live from the Artists Den. Accompanied by the four members of LA folk-rock band Raining Jane, Mraz revisited old favorites like “I Won’t Give Up” and previewed new material – such as “Hello, You Beautiful Thing” – from his album, YES!. The focus was on the collaborations with Raining Jane, who wrote and recorded YES! with Mraz. The set was punctuated by classic Mraz hit, “I’m Yours,” which earned a full-throated singalong from the rapt 1700-person crowd.

On a stormy New York City night, the always-cheeky, always-entertaining Lily Allen thrilled the crowd at the Manhattan Center’s stunning Grand Ballroom with a typically irresistible spectacle featuring multiple costume changes and a battery of back-up dancers. The set focused on her brand-new release, Sheezus — her return to recording after a five-year hiatus—including the two singles, “Hard Out Here” and “Air Balloon,” which were simultaneous Top Ten hits in the UK and closed with two of her signature smashes, “The Fear” and “Not Fair.”

On the eve of the release of their album, 9 Dead Alive, the incomparable Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela performed at Upper Manhattan’s Hispanic Society of America for an episode of public television’s Live From the Artists Den. The two virtuoso musicians played a dazzling 12-song set in the century-old museum’s Bancaja Gallery, surrounded by the fourteen paintings that make up Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida’s masterwork “Vision of Spain,” a celebration of the country’s diverse customs. It was a breathtaking setting for Rodrigo y Gabriela’s unique fusion of musical genres, a mix of melodic beauty and percussive fury which drove the 300 invited guests into clapping, stomping glee.

Country superstar Tim McGraw performed for an intimate audience at The Corinthian in downtown Houston for his episode of Live from the Artists Den, tearing through a dozen songs, including hits “Southern Girl” and “One of Those Nights” as well as his single, “Lookin’ For That Girl.” Set among the neo-classical columns of the century-old former bank building, McGraw also previewed a number of songs from his forthcoming album, Sundown Heaven Town, due later that year. Over the course of his career, McGraw has garnered 35 Number One songs, over 40 million album sales as well as multiple GRAMMY, CMA and ACM awards.

It was a sensation both familiar and brand new when Fitz & The Tantrums filmed a recent performance for public television’s concert series Live from the Artists Den. The show marked a return to their home base for the beloved Los Angeles band, in a truly incredibly venue—the breathtaking Spanish Gothic-style Theatre at Ace Hotel, formerly the United Artists movie palace, built in downtown LA in the 1920s under the hands-on direction of Mary Pickford. Fitz & The Tantrums played its signature dance grooves — blending classic soul and ’80s pop on such songs as the band’s new single, “The Walker” — and, as always, refused to let the invited audience of 900 even think about sitting down.

Vampire Weekend hit the ground running, opening their performance at New York’s General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen with “Diane Young,” the first single from the Grammy-winning album Modern Vampires of the City. The set featured such hits as “Cousins,” “A-Punk,” and (especially fitting on a snowy winter’s eve) “Holiday.” With an audience of just 400 guests, this triumphant return to the city where the band was formed was the most intimate show Vampire Weekend has played in years.

Los Angeles’ historic Orpheum Theatre hosted a dynamic performance from musician Sara Bareilles one late October evening. One-thousand guests filled the downtown theater, built in 1926, to witness the singer-songwriter’s soaring set. Bareilles performed several songs off The Blessed Unrest, her Album of the Year-nominated fourth studio album, including the hit single “Brave,” a song that champions gay rights. The singer showcased her powerful, evocative vocals on fan favorites like “Love Song” and “King of Anything,” ending the set with an emotionally compelling rendition of her breakout song “Gravity.”

The Imagine Dragons perform at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Brooklyn based band The National plays Drill Hall in New York’s historic Park Avenue Armory.

British singer and guitarist Ed Sheeran performs at the meeting house of the New York Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan, N.Y.

The Killers played an unforgettable show in New York City at an iconic old bank in the heart of Chinatown for a taping of Live from the Artists Den. Opening with the propulsive new single, “Runaways,” the Las Vegas-based band drew on material from across their multi-platinum catalogue, including such smash hits as “Mr. Brightside,” “When You Were Young,” and “Human.” The performance took place in front of 600 invited guests at the magnificent Chinatown landmark Capitale, designed in the 19th Century by influential architect Stanford White as the home of the Bowery Savings Bank.

The Wallflowers perform. Included: "Three Marlenas"; "Devil's Waltz"; "Hospital for Sinners"; "6th Avenue Heartache"; "Reboot the Mission"; "Sleepwalker"; "Misfits and Lovers"; "Closer to You"; "Love Is a Country"; "Witness"; "One Headlight"; and "The Difference."

Iron and Wine at the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, GA

Amos Lee with special guests Calexico at the Fox Theater in Tucson, AZ

Kid Rock at Graceland in Memphis, TN

Death Cab for Cutie at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, NY

A special compilation episode featuring three standout emerging artists in different settings, kicking off at Sothebys auction house in New York with R&B singersongwriter Daniel Merriweather, followed by alternative pop songstress A Fine Frenzy and folk singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan (best known for her work with Damien Rice).

A reunion concert by UK pop legends Squeeze, filmed on a different summer day in New York's Bryant Park

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Robert Plant and the Band of Joy at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville

Vermont rockers Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, filmed at sunset in New Yorks Bryant Park

The 19th-century Patrick F. Taylor Library at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, is currently closed to the public while being restored to its original grandeur. But its doors were opened to a select few on a warm April night for a concert as unique as the setting: Booker T. and the Drive-by Truckers with special guest Bettye LaVette. Under the sculpted oak beams of the library's vaulted ceiling, rich soul music kept the crowd on its feet late into the night.

The Ravenswood Billboard Factory in Chicago, which now serves as a home for one of the nation's premier collections of vintage sports cars, provided a colorful venue for a secret concert by multiplatinum country singer Dierks Bentley on a cool April night. Built in 1920, the former paper warehouse and billboard photography studio's high vaulted ceilings gave plenty of room for the rousing sound of Bentley's free 'n easy brand of country.

The Black Crowes -- a rock band Billboard coined an "Allmans-to-Zappa synthesis of influences" -- broke onto the scene with their multiplatinum 1990 debut, Shake Your Moneymaker. The Georgia band has since released seven studio albums, which have racked up worldwide sales exceeding 19 million. The Crowes's 2008 LP Warpaint includes, according to Rolling Stone, "some of the best range and craft of the band's career" -- not a small feat for a group that's been on the scene for two full decades. After an extensive renovation, The Lyric Oxford re-opened its doors in the summer of 2008 on "The Sqare" in Oxford, Mississippi. The Lyric originally opened as a silent movie theatre in 1913 and played home to a variety of films and events over the years -- including the world premiere of native Oxfordian William Faulker's "Intruder in the Dust" in 1949.

Beneath New York City's Maritime Hotel, under the paper lanterns and vaulted ceilings of the Japanese-themed Hiro Ballroom, British neo-soul star Corinne Bailey Rae gave her fans a special treat: an intimate performance showcasing her new hit album, The Sea, seven weeks before its release.

Fifty thousand fans dancing in the sunshine of Manchester, Tennessee cheered on funk/folk superstar Ben Harper during his main-stage performance at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. The largest featured in Season One of “Live from the Artists Den,” the concert took place on the 700-acre farm that for four days each year becomes the home of what is widely considered to be the premier American music festival.

At first glance, Josh Ritter’s Artists Den performance might have taken place in his native Idaho, against a landscape of rolling green hills and grazing bison. The enormous animals behind the band were, however, stuffed: the show’s venue was actually in the North American Mammal Hall of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, in the spirit of Ritter’s new album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter (Sony BMG/Victor). Surrounded by grizzly bears and wolves, hundreds of die-hard fans packed the diorama-filled hall as Ritter delivered a full-on rock concert – complete with a 5-piece horn section – that kept the room dancing all night.

Under the sculpted, neo-Renaissance ceiling of the Prince George Ballroom in Manhattan, KT Tunstall performed before an intimate Artists Den audience, revisiting her hits and giving a sneak peek of her upcoming sophomore album, Drastic Fantastic (Virgin/EMI), a follow-up to the massively successful Eye to the Telescope. Tunstall's dynamic sound found full expression with a five-piece band, filling the ornate, colorful ballroom with equally lavish music.

The magnificent Masonic Hall Grand Lodge was the dramatic setting for a dramatic event: the first Crowded House concert in New York since the legendary band reformed after more than a decade apart. The hall’s enormous, brightly painted pipe organ opened this special show celebrating the release of the band’s new album, Time on Earth (ATO Records), for a crowd of long-time fans who traveled from as far as New Zealand to attend.