Once a year, the Walkmen leader Hamilton Leithauser plays a solo residency at the Café Carlyle, a cabaret bar on New York's Upper East Side. Leithauser just released his new solo album This Side Of The Island, and he's playing Café Carlyle shows all month long. It's his seventh residency at the venue and the longest he's ever done. Leithauser promises a bunch of surprise guests at those shows; he's been around long enough to have tons of connections across the musical spectrum. A couple of recent shows have featured guests like Dinosaur Jr. leader J Mascis and star singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers -- not together, sadly.
In 2020, Hamilton Leithauser was doing the rollout for his album The Loves Of Your Life, and he posted a promo video where Maggie Rogers gave him a haircut. As Leithauser points out on Instagram, Rogers was also an early guest at at a different Café Carlyle residency. At a recent show, Rogers joined Leithauser for his song "1959" and a cover of the Talking Heads classic "Heaven." (Leithauser would also like to make it clear that David Byrne is invited to join him anytime — and given that Leithauser is allegedly on Byrne's upcoming album, maybe he will.)
Leithauser also goes way back with Dinosaur Jr., and he joined them onstage in Brooklyn in 2023, when they were playing a residency at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg. At a recent Café Carlyle show, J Mascis returned the favor, blazing through a few songs, including the beloved Dino Jr. version of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven."
Leithauser's next Café Carlyle show is Wednesday night. This Side Of The Island is out now on Glassnote.
