Be Here NOW: Richard Barone @ Valentine’s on Saturday

Photograph by Kirsten Ferguson

When veteran singer-songwriter (and former leader of avant guitar-pop band the Bongos) Richard Barone made his Valentine’s Music Hall debut back in May, he served up an excellent solo rendition of an unreleased Bongos tune, “My Wildest Dreams.”

But when he returns to Valentine’s on Saturday night (September 28), the song will no longer be unreleased.

“The Bongos single, ‘My Wildest Dreams,’ is now on iTunes,” says Barone. “We’ve been getting some cool radio play already.”

Ah, but that’s not all…

“I’m thrilled that the legendary ‘lost’ Bongos album Phantom Train – recorded back in 1986 at Compass Point Studios, Bahamas and never released – will finally see the light of day on Tuesday, October 1 on the recently revived label JEM Recordings,” Barone reveals.

Here’s a selection, “Run to the Wild,” from the album:

And as it turns out, Nippertown fans will be the first to be able to own the album. “I just got word that Albany will be the first city in the world where folks can purchase the new, lost Bongos album. I’ll be bringing copies of the album with me, and I am thrilled to be able to personally sign copies for fans now. And Albany will have it first!”

Barone promises that Saturday’s show will feature “songs and stories of the Bongos, Cool Blue Halo and beyond.” Doors open at 8pm; showtime is 8:30pm. Tickets are $9.

And if all that’s not enough, opening the show will be the debut of Two Cats in Suits, a new acoustic duo featuring Tim Livingston and Nick Bisanz of the Last Conspirators, fresh from their rip-snortin’ performance at LarkFest last weekend. Don’t be late…

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LIVE: Richard Barone @ Valentine’s Music Hall, 5/18/13