Aireene & the Rarities celebrate the release of their new album, Put Back Charlie, tonight at the Freight. Aireene Espiritu, on vocals, tenor ukulele, and guitar, leads the band and writes most of the songs. She was born in the Philippines, moved to Oakland when she was ten, and grew up in a blend of musical worlds, listening to Alan Lomax’s field recordings from the South and to her uncles jamming on Filipino folk guitar. Her music is spare and focused – she zeroes in on the essentials, telling elemental stories of life and death, laughter and tears. Her songs, says Richard Rice of the San Francisco Free Folk Festival, “carry both historic sweep and personal nuance. The melodies are full of bluesy longing, fingerpicked delicately on her tenor ukulele.” With Ed Tree on guitar, Brian Judd on mandolin, Debra Dobkin on drums and other percussion, and Peter Canton on bass, Aireene & the Rarities make music that sounds timeless and timely, earnest and intimate, as if they were playing on your neighbor’s front porch.

The East Bay’s Claudia Russell & Bruce Kaplan are longtime musical collaborators, as well as husband and wife, and Claudia’s most recent album, All Our Luck Is Changing, which features Bruce on guitar and mandolin, has won rave reviews. Country Music People calls it “an important release,” “close to perfect,” and “very enteraining!” American Songwriter calls it “a masterpiece” and says that Claudia’s singing “has never been more poignant or confident, and these songs come to life with an effortless spirit of genuine soul. This is heartwarming stuff, both inspirational and comforting at a time we need inspiration and comfort more than ever.” Boston’s folk radio station WUMB named Claudia Best New Artist in 2000, readers of the East Bay Express named her Best Musician in 2006, and the Kerrville New Folk Festival twice named her a finalist in its songwriting competition. She and Bruce serve up a folk music feast, with a healthy helping of country and blues, spiced with an occasional hilarious story!

Listen to a track from Aireene Espiritu:

Visit Aireene's website

Visit Claudia Russell's website