The Hold Steady plays free NYC show, joins benefit comp

Tonight, The Hold Steady will play a free show at the Hard Rock Café in New York City. Alas, by all accounts, the quota for this show seems to be filled, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to catch some new material from the band and others.

Serve2 is a compilation from Hard Rock that is available exclusively on iTunes and will raise funds for Artists Against Hunger and Poverty via WHY (no, not the band, silly—the non-profit World Hunger Year). It’s nice that they are doing this strictly digitally to avoid costly overhead. The album is a 25-track smorgasbord, featuring live cuts, old tracks and a few new ones. Brandi Carlile suitably covers Bob Dylan’s “The Times They are A-Changin’” and Dylan himself is on there, too, with a song from a 1963 performance at Carnegie Hall. Also on the sampler are Bruce Springsteen, Joseph Arthur, KT Tunstall and Joss Stone.

All of the net proceeds will go toward WHY's initiatives to end hunger. According to the press release, Hard Rock has raised over $1 million for the organization over the years.

Tracks to listen to while finishing those veggies:

1. “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (Live In Dublin) Bruce Springsteen
2. “Heal Over” (Live At Gaia Music, London) KT Tunstall
3. “The Ballad of Hollis Brown” (Live At Carnegie Hall, 1963) Bob Dylan
4. “Big Ol' Game” Joss Stone
5. “Casino Nation” (Live From Melbourne, Australia) Jackson Browne
6. “107°” Citizen Cope, Alice Smith
7. “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (Live From Boston) Brandi Carlile
8. “Bring It On Home To Me” Marc Broussard
9. “Arms and Hearts” The Hold Steady
10. “Dareh Meyod” (Live At Madison Square Garden) O.A.R.
11. “Lay Down” Natasha Bedingfield
12. “Nothing Left To Lose” (Acoustic Version) Mat Kearney
13. “Stay the Night” Ghosts
14. “This Is My World” Andrew W.K.
15. “Better” (Live From Joe's Pub) Toby Lightman
16. “Bell Bottom Blues” Sons Of William
17. “Baby It’s Fact” (Live From New York, NY) Hellogoodbye
18. “Start Again” Josh Rouse
19. “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” Jen Chapin
20. “Man-Child” Eli Cook & Electric Holy Fire Water
21. “Love to Begin” Griffin House
22. “God’s Last Days” Favourite Sons
23. “Everybody’s Jesus” AM
24. “Sonny” (Live) New Found Glory
25. “A River Blue” Joseph Arthur

Related Links:
WorldHungerYear.org
Artists Against Hunger and Poverty on MySpace
News: The Hold Steady ‘record 4 in the can’

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