Our very own Laurie Lu (host of the Rockabilly Hour, Sundays 2-4pm) got on the horn for an interview this past week with the legendary Dex Romweber  of the Dex Romweber Duo (formerly of the Flat Duo Jets).  The Duo will be embarking on a European tour in April, and are playing The Pour House in Raleigh this Saturday, March 13th.  Enjoy!

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Here are the fantastic shows that are taking place this week that WKNC is giving away tickets to! Be sure to tune into 88.1 FM or stream live for your chance to win!

Tuesday, March 16
Kool Keith w/Juan Huevos @ Cat’s Cradle

Kool Keith

Thursday, March 18
Black Lips w/ Box Elders @ Cat’s Cradle

Black Lips photo by Daniel Arnold

Saturday, March 20
The Rosebuds w/ Mount Weather @ Cat’s Cradle

The Rosebuds

As always, check out the Rock Report for a complete list of local shows!

As you should know from exploring WKNC’s blog, the station is in the running for the Independent Weekly’s Best of the Triangle once again. This year, the  WKNC staff voted to determine who it considered to be the best DJ, resulting in a nomination for DJ Ones from the Daytime format. What better way to get to know our favorite DJ than to read some fun facts about him each week. While you’re at it, check out DJ Ones’ Five Music Facts of the Week blog.

Five Fun Facts about DJ Ones

1. DJ Ones’ family owns around two dozen chickens.
2. DJ Ones has a fake tooth — unfortunately, it is not gold.
3. DJ Ones has a voice! He had a solo in the fourth grade singing The Nutcracker. When you call in for requests, ask to hear his sweet, sultry voice. It’s worth it.
4. DJ Ones was his high school’s valedictorian.
5. DJ Ones has had the same cell phone since 2005. It would be safe to say that he practically has a 5-year-old child.

Well, there you have it folks! WKNC’s favorite DJ, DJ Ones, is a Renaissance man. Just look at that visionary face.

Click here to put in your vote for Best Radio Station in the Triangle and Best DJ. Polls close April 15.

If you’ve listened to the station recently, you probably know that WKNC is presenting Benji Hughes and Skullbuckle at the Pour House Music Hall tomorrow night.

In anticipation of the show, I’ll be interviewing the man himself at 1 p.m. sharp. Greg from Skullbuckle will also be in to talk about the band’s album and the show.

If you have any questions you have to hear answered, comment on this post and let me know!

See you on the airwaves.

Benji Hughes at the Lincoln Theatre 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

Local band, I Was Totally Destroying It, has a song featured in a Brazilian cell phone service provider’s advertisement. The band announced on their blog yesterday that the “Come Out, Come Out” off of their latest album “Horro Vacui” was the song featured.

In response to the song featured in the commercial, the band posted, “I have to say, as a musician, it’s a very flattering thing to have a large company believe that a piece of material that you wrote can help them sell their product. Fun stuff!”

Vivo, the company that features the Chapel Hill band’s song, has both a full ad and a 30 second edit below:

No, not Animal: Aminal. You may have heard the Fight EPs (A Will to Fight EP and A Face to Fight EP), and they rock.  Since then, Aminal has come up with some extremely energetic new material, and it is time to share.

Photo by Eric Scholz

Check out “Loud It’s You” just below:

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Aminal has two nearby shows coming up: March 13 at Jack Sprat and March 16 at the Pour House!

Be sure to download all of the killer tracks below; this session was probably one of the more hilarious, yet packed with great tunes.

Lead singer Patrick was kind enough to grace us with a brief solo acoustic set too, so here’s a “naked” version of the title track to the A Will to Fight EP:

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Photo by Eric Scholz

A Face to Fight128.mp3

Sheltering the Sharp Mind.mp3

Loud It’s You.mp3

Hopeless to Ignore.mp3

Family Affair.mp3

Crumble Release Stumble Repeat.mp3

A Will to Fight Acoustic.mp3

Look for this poll on the Technician site

The Technician has added a poll to its main page asking if YOU would like to hear WKNC played on various on-campus locations such as campus C-Stores and dining halls. The poll can be found on the bottom right hand side of the home page.

Help us make this dream a reality and vote today!

It’s that time again! The Independent Weekly’s 2010 Best of the Triangle poll is live. This is your opportunity to vote for the best restaurants, bars, music venues, and, of course, radio station in the triangle area. You can vote here, and the polls close April 15.

WKNC is in the running for Best Radio Station in the Triangle. Also, the staff has nominated DJ Ones for best DJ.

Don’t forget to vote!

Because of WKNC broadcasting NC State Baseball once more this Spring, last Friday was the last live airing of the Local Beat for an entire month.  Nevertheless, it was a good one with three hours of some solid local music interviews.

Traffic on I-40 was terrible as Chapel Hill group Feeding the Fire got caught up and came in 25 minutes late.  However, when they finally did arrive we had a lot to talk about since they are releasing their first full length album since becoming a band back in 2003, titled DisInfoNation.  We talked about the writing and recording of the album, as well as the operation of their own record label, Own Life Records, and the album artwork of DisInfoNation.  The album release party is this Thursday evening at the Local 506 with fellow locals Big Fat Gap and the Rocket Surgeons.  Check out the interview below:

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At 6 p.m. Wendy Spitzer came in to promote her debut full length album from Felix Obelix, A Tick of the Clock, A Beat in the Chest, which was released at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill Saturday night.  The concert featured The Strugglers and a really interesting writing activity in which you write a letter to yourself eight months from now.  That led to interesting conversation about her past projects that include a Time Capsule as well as a “Biggest Regret/ Best Decision” project from last year.  Wendy and I also mused on her unique singing style as well as the very different musical instruments in her band.  Take a listen:

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The Kickin Grass Band joined me for the last hour of the show to promote some of their upcoming shows and play some live tunes.  Our conversation ranged anywhere from organic farming, to Lynda’s songwriting, and back to eating cats.  It was definitely an interesting hour.  All songs they played live are available for free download on the Local Beat ReverbNation page and you can listen to them in the music player to the right.  Below is the entire interview and some videos from the KGB in studio:

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Local Beat w/ Adam Kincaid: Kickin Grass Band “On the Short Rows (Live)” from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

Local Beat w/ Adam Kincaid: Kickin Grass Band “The Ghost of Nathaniel Carter (Live)” from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

Local Beat w/ Adam Kincaid: The Kicking Grass Band “Cloverleaf (Live)” from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

Local Beat w/ Adam Kincaid: Kickin Grass Band “Lay Him in the Ground (Live)” from Wolf TV on Vimeo.
As I mentioned, this is possibly the last live Local Beat for the next month.  However, be on the lookout for more Local Beat Mini Exclusives!

Due to broadcast with NC State Baseball on WKNC, The Local Beat will have a limited run in the month of March.  The Local Beat is on Friday evenings at 5pm until 8pm and will overlap with baseball several times in the spring.  The baseball schedule for Fridays in March is as follows:

Friday March 5:  NC State vs Quinnipiac (broadcast at 2:30 p.m., game at 3:00 p.m.)
Friday March 12: NC State @ Clemson (broadcast at 3:30 p.m., game at 4:00 p.m.)
Friday March 19: NC State @ Wake Forest (broadcast at 5:30 p.m., game at 6:00 p.m.)
Friday March 26: NC State vs Miami (broadcast at 6:00 p.m., game at 6:30 p.m.)

*All games and times are subject to change due to weather and field conditions.

This is good news for me, since I love N.C. State baseball.  If rain gets in the way then fear not, I will try to be in the studio bringing you some solid local music.  It really is a win-win! (Keep in mind that if you listen online you will not hear the baseball game or the Local Beat. )

Click here for the complete baseball schedule.

This week is again another killer line up at WKNC and Tir Na Nog’s Local Beer Local Band night. If you have yet to attend one of these events,  Thursday, March 4 would be a good start. This week’s line up is The Royal Knights, Demon Beat, and The Loners.

The show will be free show as always! This is a great start to an awesome weekend of local music. Hope you make it out!

Photo by Matt Moore

Amidst final exams, campus is silent.  It’s freezing too.  Billy Sugarfix voyaged out to NC State’s Caldwell Lounge early in December, accompanied by fellow musicians Sarah (shakers, vocals) and Justin (viola, vocals).  The trio graced us with a few adapted songs from Billy Sugarfix’s “Summer Tempests” as well as some new material.  As usual, you can listen and download the live tracks right here!

Billy Sugarfix’s next two shows are on Saturday, March 13 at The Evening Muse in Charlotte, and Saturday, March 20th at Nightlight in Chapel Hill.  Check the live tunes below!

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Hearing Myself.mp3

Gunpowder Green.mp3

Bright was my Sweetheart.mp3

All the King’s Horses.mp3

Humming Your Questions.mp3

If you have been rubbing your hands together in eager anticipation of March’s Local Beer Local Band schedule, you can stop. WKNC and Tir Na Nog have pulled together quite a line up.

March 4 – The Loners, The Demon Beat and The Royal Nites

March 11 – I Was Totally Destroying It, Grey Gray Young and today the moon, tomorrow the sun

March 18 – Sunfold (CD release show) and Mount Weather

March 25 – Let Feedback Ring Festival with Free Electric State, The Bronzed Chorus and Veelee

This morning I had Chapel Hill band Blag’ard come join me for a Local Beat Mini Exclusive to chat about their brand new album Mach II which is being released tonight at the Reservoir in Chapel Hill and at the Dive Bar tomorrow night in Raleigh.  The show tonight will feature a magic and burlesque show with Rosie Hellfire and Reverend Spider with Michael Rank and Marc Smith doing an acoustic opening.  There will also be free vegetarian chili to warm your bones.  The show at the Dive Bar is featuring Asheville art-rock act Solito. Both shows are free.

Blag’ard is a duo and this is their third release and their second LP.  We chatted about the making of the album, which was done mostly analogue, and partially recorded at Track and Field Studios.  It also came up in our conversation that Adam is the third drummer of the band to have a child while being in the band, a topic which is fairly interesting.  In addition Joe chatted about his website Pig Zen Space, a music download Web site with all proceeds going to the artist.

Listen below for more:

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Sorry for the delay in this post, but a couple of tests had me bogged down this week. I promise not to carry that into tonight on the Local Beat which will be one hell of a show as we have three hours of awesome Local Music.

At 5 p.m. Chapel Hill band Feeding the Fire is coming in to chat about their new album, titled DisInfoNation, that is being released next Thursday, February 4, at the Local 506. Playing alongside them will be Rocket Surgeon and Big Fat Gap.

At 6 p.m., local favorite Wendy Spitzer is joining me to chat about her new release as well, from Felix Obelix, called The Tick of the Clock, the Beat in the Chest. Last time we had Wendy in I unfortunately was taken out by H1N1 and our old friend Stevo had to fill in. Hopefully I can redeem myself tonight. Felix Obelix just recently signed with Pox World Empire who will be releasing the album. The release show is tomorrow night, Saturday February 27 at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill. The Strugglers will be opening for the $8 show (a free CD comes with the price of admission) and there is a really cool letter writing activity that Wendy and I will definitely be talking about.

At 7pm one of our favorite bluegrass bands, the Kickin Grass Band is coming in to play some live tunes and talk about some upcoming shows.

Also, be on the lookout for our upcoming Local Beat Mini Exclusive with Bla’gard who is releasing a brand new album this weekend. More on that to come!

This is also the last live Local Beat for a month as N.C. State Baseball will be taking over WKNC’s radio waves this Spring. Keep on the lookout for online material for the rest of the Spring!