Union Electric Company

The 2013 RFT Music Showcase Schedule

The 2013 RFT Music Showcase is a week and a half away! Mark your calendar and save the date; on June 1 it all goes down on Washington Avenue. Sixty bands and artists, ten stages, ten bucks -- all the excellent St. Louis music you can absorb in one twelve hour span. Be sure to check out our ongoing ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows in St. Louis from May 6 to 12

Guys, Daniel Hill made it rain blood yesterday. You know, for Slayer. We don't know about you, but this past weekend was a pretty intense party, blustery weather be damned. And it don't stop. Keep things moving this week with visits from the likes of Har Mar Superstar and more, and look forward to s ... More >>

St. Louis Record Store Day 2013: A Comprehensive Guide

Mark your calendar and prepare your wallet: This Saturday, April 20, marks the sixth annual Record Store Day. Originally begun in 2008 as a way to pull music fans away from their computers and back into the already-dwindling brick-and-mortar shops, Record Store Day has grown larger with each passing ... More >>

The 2013 RFT Music Awards Nominees

Well, it's that time again, folks! Each year, we at RFT Music HQ present the RFT Music Awards, an annual celebration of the best and brightest musical acts St. Louis has to offer. The nominees are chosen by a crack team of industry insiders, dedicated die-hards and various other musical minds from o ... More >>

InFest STL Tournament Of Champions: Round One, FIGHT!

This Saturday and Sunday, a few dozen local and regional bands perform at InFest STL, a two-day indie festival at 2720 Cherokee. The event is totally free. This is not a battle of the bands, and the acts are in no way competing with each other, but that's no reason not to pit twenty-five confirmed a ... More >>

The 50 Best St. Louis Records of 2012

Slideshow: Album Art of the 50 Best St. Louis Records of 2012

The Union Electric is On the CMJ Chart This Week [Update: And Climbing!]

Update, 10/3: Time is Gold is no one-week wonder. The UE jumped a couple dozen spots to 170 this week, putting it ahead of Beach House, Antony and the Johnsons and the Corin Tucker Band. You can see the band tearing up college radio around the country this weekend for free at the Schlafly Tap Room w ... More >>

The Union Electric is On the CMJ Chart This Week

Great news this week for St. Louis' the Union Electric: The band's debut full-length has landed on the CMJ Top 200 chart after gaining steady airplay at community and college radio stations around the country for some time now. It's a richly deserved bit of recognition for a band that represents our ... More >>

Every St. Louis Release: July 2012

This is pretty self-explanatory, really -- here you will find every musical project released in the St. Louis area (we're interpreting pretty broadly) in July 2012, listed in alphabetical order. There are links to information about the bands and places to buy these things as well as streaming previe ... More >>

Homespun: Union Electric

Time Is Gold
theunionelectric.bandcamp.com

Your Band is Worth Taking Seriously, Money or Not: Just Ask the Union Electric

After three years of shows and an equally accumulating number of seven-inches, St. Louis folk rock group the Union Electric releases its first full length CD Time is Gold. Members Tim Rakel, Glenn Burleigh, Melinda Cooper and Mic Boshans are more than just St. Louis music veterans; they are staples ... More >>

Woody Guthrie 100th Birthday Party, Tribute and 88.1 KDHX Benefit, 7/14/12: Review

Just One Big Soul: Woody Guthrie 100th Birthday Party, Tribute and 88.1 KDHX Benefit Off Broadway July 14, 2012 Behold the power of Woody Guthrie: A man with a trucker hat, tousled grey hair, and a thick, hearty mustache, a mustache that has seen some hard travelin', chokes out "Goodbye to my one ... More >>

Jackson Browne, Chiddy Bang, Russian Circles and More in This Week's New Show Announcements

Here again: every newly announced show for the week! On page one you'll find a quick list of shows that particularly caught our attention, followed by embedded YouTube videos; there, you can check out some of the artists you may not be familiar with. Page two contains our complete listing of new sho ... More >>

The 2012 RFT Music Showcase Lineup for June 2

The 2012 RFT Music Showcase Schedule

The 2012 RFT Music Showcase is two weeks away, on June 2. And here it is: 5 blocks, 14 stages, 74 bands and artists. Ten bucks gets you all the excellent St. Louis music you can absorb in one twelve hour span. And hey: At least for now, the forecast calls for an incredibly pleasant high of 89 degree ... More >>

40 Best St. Louis Releases of 2011: Part Ten

Part One: The Union Electric, Sweet Tooth, King Kong Magnetics, Warm Jets USA Part Two: Glass Teeth, Ryan Spearman, the Breaks and Adult Fur Part Three: Rum Drum Ramblers, Humanoids, Old Lights and Volcanoes Part Four: Bo & the Locomotive, Rockwell Knuckles, Dubb Nubb and Palace Part Five: Sleepy Ki ... More >>

Ten Best Things to Do in St. Louis This Weekend: January 6 to 8

Cameron WittigThe Bad Plus is in town for four more shows.​What will 2012 bring us? To start, the finale of the Bad Plus' residency at Jazz at the Bistro. Then there's David Lowery wearing two hats tonight in Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven at the Pageant. Comedian Rob Delaney had to add a s ... More >>

40 Best St. Louis Releases of 2011: Part Nine

Part One: The Union Electric, Sweet Tooth, King Kong Magnetics, Warm Jets USA Part Two: Glass Teeth, Ryan Spearman, the Breaks and Adult Fur Part Three: Rum Drum Ramblers, Humanoids, Old Lights and Volcanoes Part Four: Bo & the Locomotive, Rockwell Knuckles, Dubb Nubb and Palace Part Five: Sleepy Ki ... More >>

40 Best St. Louis Releases of 2011: Part Seven

​Part One: The Union Electric, Sweet Tooth, King Kong Magnetics, Warm Jets USA Part Two: Glass Teeth, Ryan Spearman, the Breaks and Adult Fur Part Three: Rum Drum Ramblers, Humanoids, Old Lights and Volcanoes Part Four: Bo & the Locomotive, Rockwell Knuckles, Dubb Nubb and Palace Part Five: Sl ... More >>

40 Best St. Louis Releases of 2011: Part Six

Part One: The Union Electric, Sweet Tooth, King Kong Magnetics, Warm Jets USA Part Two: Glass Teeth, Ryan Spearman, the Breaks and Adult Fur Part Three: Rum Drum Ramblers, Humanoids, Old Lights and Volcanoes Part Four: Bo & the Locomotive, Rockwell Knuckles, Dubb Nubb and Palace Part Five: Sleepy Ki ... More >>

40 Best St. Louis Releases of 2011: Part Four

Part One: The Union Electric, Sweet Tooth, King Kong Magnetics, Warm Jets USA Part Two: Glass Teeth, Ryan Spearman, the Breaks and Adult Fur Part Three: Rum Drum Ramblers, Humanoids, Old Lights and Volcanoes

40 Best St. Louis Releases of 2011: Part One

​As you may have noticed, we were excited to be St. Louis music fans this year. And there is no more substantial document of the sound of this city in 2011 than the music released by its bands and artists. It is not an exaggeration to guess that the releases in the metro area number in the tho ... More >>

The Ten Best Things to do in St. Louis This Weekend: November 25 to 27

Happy Capitalism Celebration day! This weekend is as packed as your small intestine. First things first: shopping. Friday This year, ditch the evil big box stores in favor of supporting local art and business. You will not get $200 off a 87-inch flat screen TV, but you will find beer and Beryl, th ... More >>

Ten Best Things to Do in St. Louis This Weekend: July 29-31

​It's almost all about the locals this week, with Spelling Bee kicking off its tour tonight at Pig Slop and a Saturday night on which we really wish we could clone ourselves: Griffin Kay's last show with So Many Dynamos, Jason Torbitzky's last show with Theodore at the Union Electric 7" relea ... More >>

Homespun: The Union Electric

"Tunnels" / "An Irish Orphan"
Rankoutsider Records

Listen To Union Electric's "Tunnels" Before Saturday's Release

​In this week's Homespun column, Christian Schaeffer weighs in on the new release from the Union Electric -- "Tunnels" / "An Irish Orphan." The A-side is, in the bands' description, "Tunnels is based on the story of Chinese immigrants, who came to Mexico for work, and were forced to live liter ... More >>

Help Find The Union Electric's Glenn Burleigh's Stolen Guitar

Photo by Jess Luther. Larger image below.​Have you seen the guitar pictured to the right? Glenn Burleigh, who plays these days with Union Electric, had his home broken into earlier this week, and among the things stolen was his guitar: A 50th anniversary Fender Telecaster with Japanese custom ... More >>

Middle Class Fashion: Listen to a Song Off The Upcoming LP Before You See Tonight's Show

Photo by Ben Mudd​Middle Class Fashion plays the sort of unhindered pop music you don't find a ton of in St. Louis. It's so buoyant as to be theatrical at times, but it never sounds frivolous. The band's got plenty of pedigree, with Jenn Malzone on vocals and keys, Brad Vaughn on guitar and B ... More >>

Ten Best Things to Do in St. Louis This Weekend: April 29-May 1

Bunnygrunt​After last weekend's total insanity, things are a little calmer in the 'Lou. As usual, however it wasn't hard to find ten things you could be doing with your time: Kinky Friedman plays tonight at Off Broadway, the Incurables are releasing an EP at the same place tomorrow and Bunnygr ... More >>

Record Store Day 2011 in St. Louis: What You Need to Know About The Bands, DJs and Free Beer

A to Z loves Record Store Day! All of our favorite stores throw parties and hang out, celebrating records over free beer, snacks and lots of live music. (And there are exclusive Record Store Day releases to buy, too.) What could be better? To help prepare our readers (and ourselves) for this massi ... More >>

Ten Best Things To Do This Weekend in St. Louis: January 14 to 16

​Have cabin fever yet? If you don't, I'd be surprised. Thankfully, this weekend will be a little respite from the cold. Go check out some of the shows listed here. Or explore the events below. Friday STL Loud EP Release @ Off Broadway The first EP in the STL Loud series is being released toni ... More >>

A Very Bert Dax Christmas CD Release Shows

A Very Bert Dax Christmas Returns in 2010 With a CD, Holiday Shows

​Although it's still 70 degrees in St. Louis, it's already time to start thinking about the holidays. After a year off, the Matt Harnish-created A Very Bert Dax Christmas compilation is returning for 2010. A co-production with Pancake Productions, Volume 8 in the series is going to feature MIS ... More >>

10 Things to Do for $10 This Weekend in St. Louis, Aug. 13-15, 2010

As the temperature tops 100, RFT has discovered some cool ways to stay, well, cool in these dog days of summer. We've got art, music, magic and more indoors, plus a skate show and bike race for you daredevils who want to brave the heat. Viva la air conditioning!

The Wedge Is Now Once Again Booking Bands

​I reported several months ago that the Wedge was open again and hosting Stag Nite every Wednesday. Well, the mastermind behind that night, Johnny Vega$, just emailed to let me know that his role with the venue is now expanded: He's the GM and now booking bands as well. Anyone interested in pl ... More >>

St. Louis Weekend Concert Calendar: Friday, January 22 to Sunday, January 24

Please look here and here for Haiti benefits happening around town this weekend. Friday, January 22 *Corey Smith, The Pageant *Jeff Coffin & the Mu'tet, 2720 Cherokee *Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Deluxe (last show at the venue) *Soul Kiss (reunion), Duck Room *Mario Pascal, Lamar Harris a ... More >>

Working-Class Heroes: The Union Electric's unique brand of drone-folk busts genres — and bursts eardrums

St. Louis Weekend Concert Calendar: Friday, January 15, to Sunday, January 17

Friday, January 15 *Bob Wayne/Reverend Deadeye, The Fox Hole at Atomic Cowboy *Team Relevance vs. Murder City Players, The Firebird *Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, The Sheldon *Staci Grim (ex Wednesday 13, Retardobot)/Man Eating Tiger/KL2/Graceless Disparity/ I Stabbed My Landlord/The Cyanide P ... More >>

St. Louis Concert Announcements: Week Of December 29

Firebird *Scathe/Heist/Broke, Friday, January 8 *Thunderkid, Saturday, January 23 *All the Day Holiday/Empires, Sunday, January 24 *Tilts/City of Ships, Friday, January 29 *Pretty Little Empire/The Union Electric/Popular Mechanics, Monday, February 15 *Pretty and Nice/Title Tracks/Jumbling Towers, S ... More >>

Review: The Union Electric's 7"

REVIEW BY JASON TOON On pedigree alone, the Union Electric is an intriguing proposition. Singer/guitarist/banjo-picker Tim Rakehell spent several years (and several releases) leading Bad Folk through the darkest backwoods of acoustic Americana, sometimes as the band's only member. Guitarist Glenn B ... More >>

This Week's MP3 Bonanza: Second Story Man and the Union Electric Exclusive New Old Lights Demo!

On Wednesday night, steely twang-punks the Union Electric will be holding a release party for their seven-inch-record debut at Off Broadway. Tenement Ruth, Ben Pranger (of the Payola Reserve) and Louisville's Second Story Man are also on the bill. The show starts at 8 p.m.; tickets are $7 for people ... More >>

MP3: The Union Electric, "You've Been Served"

The Union Electric -- the band featuring guitarist/banjoist/vocalist Tim Rakel, guitarist Glenn Burleigh and drummer Eric Von Damage -- was kind enough to send over a mastered version of "You've Been Served." This will appear on the band's first 7"! It's quite a menacing punk-folk drone; Rakel sound ... More >>

The Union Electric Posts Demos, Plays at Way Out Club on Wednesday

The Union Electric -- the new project of Bad Folk's Tim Rakel and Glenn Burleigh of Adversary Workers, among others -- just posted new demos on its MySpace page. The band recorded the songs with Grace Basement's Kevin Buckley. Click on the band name to check 'em out! .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padd ... More >>

Update: May Day Orchestra Album Update, New Band for Tim Rakel

Ran into Tim Rakel last night, and he filled me in on all of his goings-on. First, the long-awaited May Day Orchestra LP, called Songs for Lucy Parsons, will arrive on -- when else? -- May 1. An 8 p.m. show at Black Bear Bakery is your first shot at buying the new record. The sec ... More >>

Letters

From the week of January 10, 2001

Best Sunflowers

Corner of Lewis and O'Fallon, St. Louis Riverfront

Best Vacant Building

710 N. 15th St.