Renowned singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding, hailed by Rolling Stone as, “a literate and ironic neo-folkie with enough bile to win over a younger, hipper audience not attuned to folk music,” recently released his latest album, Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead , via Popover Corps/Rebel Group. In support of the record Harding will be reviving his three-show residency at Le Poisson Rouge on March 25, April 15, and May 20. Part variety show and part concert, the Cabinet of Wonders will draw together collaborators from the worlds of music, literature, comedy and even ventriloquism all hand-picked by Harding himself. “I wanted to bring together my novel writing friends (who mostly envy my musician friends) and my musician friends (who mostly envy my novel writing friends) under one flag,” says Harding. “The fact is: I like everyone who’s performing.”

You can read about their 11/18/09 show at LPR here.

Steven Page was the lead singer and songwriter with Barenaked Ladies from 1988-2009. He was the composer of music for three plays at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. Released The Vanity Project (with Stephen Duffy) in 2005. He is currently working on music for Ben Jonson's Batholomew Fair at this year's Stratford Festival, and making a new solo album. He recently recorded an album with The Art of Time Ensemble, to be released later in 2009.

I started using comedy as a defence mechanism in junior high and high school and then turned it into a career, once it became clear that I make a terrible temp. I moved to Brooklyn eight years ago from Somerville, MA. Sometimes, I am on television (which makes me professional!). I’m a regular on HBO’s Flight of The Concords, and on Adult Swim’s Delocated. Sometimes you can catch my half hour special on Comedy Central. I voiced the nun on Lucy, Daughter of the Devil. My first book, The Will to Whatevs , is now out from Harper Perennial.

More: Interview at Pitchfork.com

David Gates is an American journalist and novelist. His first novel, Jernigan (1991), about a dysfunctional one-parent family, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. This was followed by a second novel, Preston Falls (1998), and a short story collection, The Wonders of the Invisible World (1999). He has published short stories in Esquire magazine, Ploughshares, GQ, Grand Street, and TriQuarterly.

Until 2008, he was a senior writer in the Arts section at Newsweek magazine, specializing in articles on books and music.

He teaches in the graduate writing program at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont and at The New School in Manhattan, New York.

Combining elements of jazz, pop and funk, Elizabeth and the Catapult creates a singular sound with memorable melodies and unique, sophisticated harmonies. Fronted by the clear sultry voice of singer songwriter Elizabeth Ziman, they are attracting a buzz from the music press. Elizabeth wrote her first song at age six, banging out melodies on an old upright in a Greenwich Village laundry room. A born romantic, Elizabeth transformed the music of Debussy, molding it to the driving rhythms of the washer and dryer. With Debussy and Bach on her left and the Beatles just to her right, Elizabeth quickly developed a sound all her own. Her “Baroque” pop songs have frequently been compared to those of Rufus Wainright, Fiona Apple and Laura Nyro. Elizabeth received the ASCAP Leiber and Stoller award in 2001 for her song “Like Water is to Sand”. From two years, she toured across the U.S. with soul queen Patti Austin, who kicked off her tour at Lincoln Center in 2003. This past year, Elizabeth also performed with Enya, singing with her on Regis and Kelly as well as the CBS Morning Show. Comprised of Elizabeth Ziman (vocals, keys), Danny Molad (drums), and Peter Lalish (guitar), Elizabeth and the Catapult came into existence in 2004. “Elizabeth has performed extensively with her and in New York City and Boston (The Knitting Factory, The Living Room, Rockwood Music Hall, The Cutting Room, The Middle East, T.T. The Bears). They completed their new S-T EP last spring, and promoted the album on ‘soundcheck’ with John Shaefer(WNYC) in April. . They have opened for national headliners like Jessie Harris, Kirk Kirkwood (of Meat Puppets fame), The Wood Brothers (featuring Chris Wood of Medeski, Martin, and Wood), and Amanda Palmer. They were spotlighted in the fall issue of Northeast Performer and the featured Billboard Underground Artist in October 2006.

My name is John Roderick and I am the songwriter and guitarist in the Long Winters. I grew up in Anchorage, AK, which is a drowsy little city, perched on the very lip of the civilized world. Like most small American towns, Anchorage is a conservative and insular little shithole, but because it’s surrounded on all sides by Alaska it has the good fortune to be a jumping-off point for every kind of maniac and outlaw, and it was from these salty characters that I learned all the truly important life-lessons: keep your powder dry, know a good Audi mechanic, and never feed your dogs first. As an American teenager I was only dimly aware of how stupid I was until I got out into the world and saw it for myself.

I love making records and playing music—it’s a pretty good life for a person like me—and I’m lucky to have played with some great musicians. I’m a little bit of a dictator, maybe, and I have a sharp tongue, but to balance it out I’m also paranoid and greedy. Still, there are so many people in the world, (6.4 billion) that even an unlikable and grouchy little Napoleon like me is able to find plenty of talented musicians to be in his band.

Jon Auer is co-founder of the power pop band The Posies, along with Ken Stringfellow. Auer and Stringfellow have also been a part of the rejuvenated Big Star.

Auer was a founding member of Sky Cries Mary. Auer was also a member of The Squirrels, Lucky Me, Jean Jacket Shotgun and Chariot.

As a solo artist, Auer has released an EP, 61/2, and a full-length record on the label Pattern25 called Songs from the Year of Our Demise.

Auer is also a producer. He has worked with bands such as You Am I, Monostereo, Cheap Star, Love Battery, Redd Kross, Truly, Tad, etc.

In 2003, Auer and Ken Stringfellow released Private Sides, a six-song split EP (Arena Rock Recording Co./Rykodisc). Auer recently played guitar on the William Shatner record Has Been which was produced and arranged by Ben Folds.