Joe's Pub Announces Anne Steele, Happy Ending Music & Reading Nov Guests

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. With its genre-blind booking and vast diversity of interests, the stage at Joe's Pub gives voice to a world of varied and stellar artists.

NOV 1-4
Anne Steele: CD RELEASE
Monday, November 1 at 7:30 PM; $20
A daring reinvention of pop. A thrilling re-imagining of the standards. Anne Steele, a three-time MAC, two-time Bistro and Nightlife Award-winner, achieves both on her debut studio album, STRINGS ATTACHED. Drawn from her sold-out concerts, with music direction and arrangements by Kenny Davidsen, the album offers surprising and insightful pairings of classics with the edgier hits of today. Backed by a stellar yet unconventional six-piece ensemble, Anne explores the intersection of current and traditional sensibilities in songs by a wide range of artists, such as Britney Spears, Pink, Queen, Cat Stevens, Charlie Chaplin and Stephen Sondheim. This is a one night only concert to celebrate the release of her debut album on PS Classics!!

THE GAY AGENDA: CONQUERS JOE'S PUB!
Monday, November 1 at 9:30 PM; $15
The Gay Agenda is your semi-favorite-two-man-musical-theatre-post-punk-band. Micah and Nicholas, two harmonizing homos with their ears perked for the latest sounds in the cutting edge world of musical theatre, concoct mangled love ballads and disjointed show stoppers to delight the twisted, sentimental show queen in all of us. THE GAY AGENDA has a single goal: Complete and utter world queerification through SHOWTUNES.

CMA SONGWRITER SERIES
feat LUKE LAIRD, ERIC CHURCH, CAROLYN Dawn Johnson & host BOB DIPIERO
Tuesday, November 2 at 6:30pm & 9:00 PM; $30
Joe's Pub and the Country Music Association are proud to announce the continuation of the successful CMA (Country Music Association) Songwriter Series with some of Nashville's finest songwriters. Bob DiPiero will return as host. CMA Songwriters Series is proudly sponsored by American Airlines, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GAC.

On-Sale October 6th at 2:00pm.

Bob DiPiero
"If You Ever Stop Loving Me" / Montgomery Gentry
"Southern Voice" / Tim McGRaw
"Blue Clear Sky" / George Strait
"You Can't Take The Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl" / Brooks & Dunn

Eric Church
"I Love Your Love The Most" / Eric Church
"Hell On The Heart" / Eric Church
"Smoke A Little Smoke" / Eric Church

Luke Laird
"So Small" / Carrie Underwood
"Last Name" / Carrie Underwood
"Hillbilly Bone" / Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins
"Undo It" / Lee Ann Womack

Carolyn Dawn Johnson
"Single White Female" / Chely Wright
"Complicated" / Carolyn Dawn Johnson
"I Don't Want You To Go" / Carolyn Dawn Johnson
"Downtime" / Jo Dee Messina

BOB DIPIERO
For the past 20 years, Bob DiPiero has helped define the best that is Music Row. A legendarily funny and compelling performer, he is one of a handful setting the bar for present-day songwriter/entertainers.
As a raconteur, he may have no equal among his peers, and as a musical ambassador and bridge-builder, he has helped make Nashville a port of call for legendary performers from all genres, writing with Neil Diamond, Carole King, Johnny Van Zant and Delbert McClinton, among many others.

He is one of Nashville's most consistent and prolific writers of hits, and he remains at the top of his profession more than two decades after hitting #1 on the charts for the first time in 1983. His long string of hits includes the Oak Ridge Boys' "American Made," Montgomery Gentry's "If You Ever Stop Loving Me," Vince Gill's "Worlds Apart," Shenandoah's "The Church On Cumberland Road," Ricochet's "Daddy's Money," George Strait "Blue Clear Sky," Brooks & Dunn's "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out Of the Girl," and Martina McBride's "There You Are."

DiPiero has received three dozen BMI Country and Million-Air honors; CMA's Triple Play Award in 1995 and 1996, "Song of the Year" for "Worlds Apart" at the Country Radio Music Awards in 1997, and Songwriter of the Year awards in 1998 at the Nashville Music Awards and in 2000 from Sony/ATV Nashville.

ERIC CHURCH
Capitol Nashville's Eric Church has produced two consecutive Top 10 singles, "Love Your Love The Most" and "Hell On The Heart," from his self-penned sophomore release Carolina. Rolling Stone praised the album's "surging guitars bolstering good-ol'-boy narratives," and The New York Times declared, "His music puts rock muscle behind honky-tonk and turns ballads into intimate close-ups." Since the 2006 release of his critically acclaimed debut album Sinners Like Me, Church has taken his gritty, energy packed live show on the road and has created a fanbase that knows all the words to every song. This spring Church ended his headlining tour, the Jagermeister Country Tour, and headed right back out on the road with the Country Throwdown Tour and Hank William, Jr.'s Rowdy Friends tours. Eric was recently featured on the cover of Billboard Magazine. "Smoke A Little Smoke," the third single from Carolina is currently at country radio.

LUKE LAIRD
Each of singer/songwriter Luke Laird's songs displays their composer's fondness for sly observations and gritty emotion. The Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania native had music in mind when he chose to attend Middle Tennessee State University. After graduation, he hit the road with Brooks & Dunn as their assistant tour manager, constantly writing songs in the midst of a touring schedule's hurry up and wait world. When Laird found himself back in Nashville 2002, he signed with BMG Music Publishing, choosing to focus fulltime on his deep-rooted passion for songwriting. Laird recently penned 3 songs on Carrie Underwood's sophomore album Carnival Ride including the hit single "So Small" which topped the R&R and Billboard country charts at #1 for 3 weeks and "Last Name" which went #1 on R&R and Billboard, as well. Underwood's latest release, "Play On" also yielded chart-topper "Temporary Home" also co-written by Laird, while Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins took Laird's "Hillbilly Bone" to #1 and also garnered ACM Vocal Event of the Year with the song. Other artists including Tim McGRaw, Rascal Flatts, Lee Ann Womack, Jessica Simpson, Holly Williams, Jessica Harp and Emerson Drive have recorded Laird's work-all resounding affirmations of his choice in profession.

CAROLYN Dawn Johnson
This fresh-faced songwriter who drove 60 hours from her then home, Vancouver, BC, Canada to build a career in Nashville seemingly never looked back. She never had to. Arriving in 1995, Johnson developed her skill and reputation as a songwriter while working odd jobs to pay the bills. A publishing deal led to cuts by artists including Jo Dee Messina, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea and more. Her first No. 1 as a writer came in 1999 with Chely Wright's "Single White Female."

The milestones came quickly. She was named Music Row magazine's Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year in 2000, she toured behind Martina McBride for a year, and eventually signed a recording contract with powerhouse Arista/Nashville. Her first album, Room With A View, bowed in 2001 and launched her first hits as an artist including "Georgia," "I Don't Want You To Go" and the top 5 smash "Complicated." Critical acclaim and the approval of her peers poured in, and Johnson was honored as the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist in 2002. The American Music Awards hailed her as Favorite New Country Artist the following year.

High profile tours with Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban had her poised for a major breakthrough with her second album, 2004's Dress Rehearsal. But it never materialized. She had a top 15 hit with the first single, "Simple Life," but she was beginning to realize she'd lost her way. She asked for her release from Arista in 2005.

CDJ realized she needed to reclaim the magic she'd felt when she first arrived in Nashville. "Starting out I was incredibly prolific simply because I was so excited to be writing songs," she says. "Then I went through a period where I felt like I was trying to write certain kinds of songs. When Arista and I parted ways I was really sad, but I decided to just get back out into Nashville. I started going to writers' nights again. I started going out to hear bands. And I was asking myself, 'Why did I come here? Why did I move to Nashville? Why was I so drawn to this place that there was nothing that could pull me away?'"

Immersing herself in Music City's inimitable creative community - for the second time - brought all those feelings back. And it showed her how far off course she'd drifted. "Music had become less important," she admits. "My love of it wasn't strong enough for me to face everything you have to face to make some headway in this business. "It's not that I wanted to quit, but I very much questioned whether it was all worth it," she continues. "It's nobody's fault, it's just a business and you can't help but get caught up in it. Then you try to resist and you create your own unhappiness. That's the trouble between the business and the art. I can handle both, but it got out of whack for a while. It's hard to put on that smiling face when you don't believe in what you're doing. And if you don't believe it, people are going to see it in your face. They'll see it in your body language.

"Getting back out there and listening again brought it all back. It really feels like I've come back around to the beginning. I'm writing things that I love and writing about real things instead of trying to come up with stuff that will make everybody else happy."
Love & Negotiation, Johnson's 3rd album, was released in Canada under the Angeline Entertainment label in 2006. As with her first album, she wrote all 12 songs, but this time she produced the entire album by herself. The album was originally scheduled to be released in the United States in mid-2007 by Equity Music Group but was delayed and Johnson exited Equity in 2008. [16] In September 2007, Johnson was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2007 CCMA Awards. Love & Negotiation was eventually released in the United States digitally through Dancing Lily Music on October 13, 2009 with different artwork.
In 2010, Johnson released the first single from her upcoming studio album. The single, "Let Me Introduce Myself", is included on her fourth studio album, Love Rules, which was released to iTunes in the United States on July 21, 2010 and in Canada on August 10, 2010 via Dancing Lily Music. The album is produced by Johnson and Frank Rogers and features 12 new songs.

HAPPY ENDING MUSIC AND READING SERIES
feat authors TEDDY WAYNE, JENNIFER EGAN & musical guest ELIZABETH & THE CATAPULT
Wednesday, November 3 at 7:00 PM; $15
The consistently sold out, Happy Ending Music and Reading Series, chosen by New York Magazine and NY Press as the best reading series in NYC, and singled out by the New York Times Magazine for helping to "Keep downtown alive," features the most interesting storytellers, writers, musicians, raconteurs and personalities, and requires the readers to take one public risk, while the musicians, who perform two short sets with their original, lyric-driven music, are required to play one cover song and try to get the audience to sing along. Called the "most vital authors' series in the city," by Time Out NY, and known for its consistently good taste, Happy Ending has launched careers and proudly, ended none.

CHELY WRIGHT
Wednesday, November 3 at 9:30 PM & Thursday, November 4 at 7:30 PM; $17 in advance / $20 at the door
Lifted off the Ground may be Chely Wright's seventh album, but on a number of levels it feels and sounds like her first, revealing an artist who has undergone a dramatic artistic transformation, emerging as a singer/songwriter of the first order. But the new album would never have come to be were it not for an equally dramatic personal transformation, which she has candidly and painstakingly documented. Lifted Off the Ground was released on Vanguard Records May 4, the same day Random House publishes Wright's autobiography, Like Me.

Though she made her name as a commercial country singer, recording songs from some of Nashville's top writers-including modern-day classics like "Single White Female," "Shut Up and Drive" and "Jezebel"-Wright had been honing her craft as a songwriter since her teenage years in rural Kansas. She was signed as a writer in 1993 and wrote half of her first and second albums before realizing she still had a ways to go before she was ready to bang 'em out with the big boys. But she kept working at her craft, placing a handful of original songs on each of her subsequent records, and coming up with a Top 10 hit for Clay Walker before penning eight songs on her most recent album, 2005's Metropolitan Hotel, including the zeitgeist-capturing hit "The Bumper of My S.U.V." That release followed on the heels of the rarities collection Everything, containing previously unreleased originals.

The Civilians: LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: CRIME, USA (Key West, New York City)
Thursday, November 4 at 9:30 PM; $15
"Clear evidence of evolution in the world of modern theater. Miss it and weep." Time Out New York
"The Civilians deserve credit as top-notch journalists, creating portraits that are vivid, agenda-free and marked by a benevolent irony." - The New Yorker

The Civilians presents its next cabaret evening at Joe's Pub, Let Me Ascertain You: CRIME, USA (Key West, New York City). This one-night-only performance is dedicated to The Civilians' investigation into the world of crime in the United States, which began one year ago in residency at The Studios Of Key West, in Key West, Florida - Mile Zero. Civilians' artists will introduce the audience to characters interviewed in Key West and New York City, including, criminals, cops, employees of the FBI and DOJ, pawnshop workers, experts on serial killers, crime writers, former gang members, and one man named Monkey Tom. Original songs will be performed by Scrapomatic. Don't miss this first staging of The Civilians' investigation into the world of crime, an examination that will continue on into other American cities.

THE EMBASSY ENSEMBLE LIVE! THIS MONTH'S SPOTLIGHT ON: J. IVY
Thursday, November 4 at 11:30 PM; $15
"The Embassy Ensemble Presents," is an intimate concert series featuring both new and established musical guests from around the world, backed by the blazing horns and funky rhythm section of The Embassy Ensemble. Featuring three horns, bass, guitar, drums, and percussion, The Embassy Ensemble, has been Blitz the Ambassador's backing band for the past three years. Now, accompanied by Blitz the Ambassador on percussion, the Embassy Ensemble step into their own spotlight, as the musical accompaniment to some of the world's best new musical talents.

Truly, when it comes to the art of Hip-Hop Poetry, J. Ivy is the 1st of his kind. He is a pioneer, a trendsetter, one who has knocked down impossible doors, taking the Art of Poetry directly to today's mainstream music & television arenas. His motivational motto, "Dreams Don't Come True, They Are True" has guided him from his native home Chicago to becoming a Grammy Award Winning Artist. From his breath taking performances for people of all ages to his appearances on countless television networks, J. Ivy's passionate delivery always leaves spectators transfixed in a state of inspiration, and because of that he is recognized World Wide.

J. Ivy's impressive resume easily distinguishes him as a trailblazer in the 21st Century. Now he is set to take the World by storm with the soon to come release of his debut album "Here I Am". Promising to surpass the bar he has set for himself, the release is sure to solidify J. Ivy as one of today's most prolific artists. Stay tuned. There is much more to come...

TICKETS
Online at joespub.com
Phone 212-967-7555,
In Person At The Public Theater Box Office (1 PM to 6 PM), or at the Joe's Pub Box Office from (6 PM to 10 PM) both located at 425 Lafayette Street, NYC

For table reservations please call 212-539-8778. Purchase of tickets does NOT guarantee a table reservation; you must call to reserve seats. Seating, as well as standing-room, is available only on a first-come, first-served basis for all shows without a dinner reservation. Two drink or $12 food minimum per person is standard.