Tonight on the Local Beat we are back to another jam packed program with several local bands releasing new albums.

On Tuesday Durham band I Was Totally Destroying It released their sixth album, Vexations. The album has been streaming here all week in anticipation for their release party tomorrow evening at Motorco Music Hall in Durham and I must admit, I am quite smitten. We will be chatting with the members at 5pm today and while the group has been on the program almost a dozen times now and are always charming and fun, as is their music.

For the second hour we will have the pleasure of being joined in studio by the guys of American Aquarium. Front man BJ Barham has been on the Local Beat many times but this will mark the first that he will be joined by his band mates. American Aquarium has released 7 albums now, including one EP and one live full length, and their newest, Burn. Flicker. Die., is to be released tomorrow evening at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.

For the last hour of the evening we will be joined for the first time, about half way through by Wilmington electronica group Dash. If you listen to the Local Lunch you will recognize the bands dancey electronic pop song “Into The Sounds” which has been quite a bit of airplay. You might also want to head to Kings Barcade after the interview to check the group out live.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

For the entire month of July on “The Local Beat” we have been looking back at some of our favorite interviews from the past. So far we have entertained you with interviews from Bombadil, Mount Moriah, Mandolin Orange, Magnolia Collective, Kooley High, Kleptonaut, Birds and Arrows, The Gathering Church, and Phil Cook & His Feat. Friday, July 27 is the final episode in this “Best of the Local Beat” series and we are rounding off with some of the best interviews we have to offer. In fact, these three might be my favorite of all time. We are calling them the “Best of the Best of the Local Beat.”

Mike Roy came in on September 30, 2011 to chat about his album, “Mike and Eileen Chapter One.” What unfolded was a full hour of one of the most memorable and colorful conversations ever to happen on WKNC. Mike opened up and told us about how his faltering marriage inspired an incredible album and ended triumphantly with redemption in the end. Without giving away to much it might be my favorite interview ever on “The Local Beat.” This interview begins at 5 p.m.

For the 6 o’clock hour I am revisiting a band I have had recently on the program, GROHG, who joined me just a few months back to discuss the release of their new EP “Culture of Petty Thieves.” However, before the EP bandmates Will Goodyear and Mark Connor joined me on October 28 to discuss the conception of the band and promote their first show ever. What ended up happening instead was a complete schooling on the art of the broad genre known as “metal” which ended my ignorant take on the music. The conversation with Will and Mark was enlightening to say the least and I am proud to re-air this interview for you all.

The final interview of the evening, and the final Best of the Local Beat, is none other than old time friends the Kickin Grass Band who dropped by on January 13, 2011 to promote their 10 year anniversary and the show they were playing in support of their success. The KGB band is one of my favorites in the area and they shared some delightful and entertaining stories with us from the past 10 years and played some amazing live tunes in the studio. In addition, since the interview happened they were awarded by the Carolina Music Awards for the “Best Bluegrass and Americana.” Be on the lookout for their new album, “Walk With Me.”

I hope you enjoy these interviews tonight, they are some that I will always cherish. I also hope you have appreciated the last month of  “The Best of the Local Beat” series and will join me next week to begin live broadcast in studio once again to create some new memories.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

This week on “The Local Beat” we are continuing to look back into the past at some of our favorite interviews ever on the program for our “Best of the Local Beat” series that is happening throughout July. This is the third Friday of the month and the interviews we are re-airing are some of my favorites.

At 5 p.m. we will listen to an interview I had with the fellas in Durham band Bombadil last November in which they stopped by to talk about their first album in two years, All That The Rain Promises. It had been a year since they had come by “The Local Beat” so we had a lot to catch up on outside of the new record. We also spent a great deal of time chatting about the album and comparing it to the previous one.

Six o’clock brings on one of my favorite interviews ever when Mandolin Orange came by on September 23, 2011 to talk about their release of a double LP: Haste Make and Hard Hearted Stranger. Andrew and Emily are two of my favorite musicians in our state and both of them shared quite a bit of insight into their art and craft.

The final hour was with Magnolia Collective, a collection of some of our finest musicians in the area. We had a wonderful conversation about the history of the group and the song creation process that they administer for each of their songs. In the latter part of the interview we touched on the trends and themes of our music scenes from 2011 in what turned out to be one of my favorite bits ever on The Local Beat.” It is always interesting to compare our music scene from year to year. See if you can do the same yourself.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

This Friday, July 13 on “The Local Beat” we are continuing our “Best Of” series with three great interviews.

At 5 p.m. we are revisiting an interview from December 2011 when local hip-hop group Kooley High dropped by to talk about their newly released album “David Thompson.” Kooley High was planning a show at the Pour House in support of the album release with several other local hip-hop groups. The guys and I talked about their exodus to New York, the new album, music videos and much more.

The second hour we will re-listen to an interview from February 2012 when Jeff Shields of local act Kleptonaut stopped by to chat about one of my favorite albums from last year, “The Golden Age of Space Travel.” Jeff was an excellent guest and shared a lot of witty insight into the creation of his music. We had a blast talking about everything from his experience as a “podcast troubadour” to the naming of his instrumental songs.

For the final hour of the program we are just reaching back to March of this year when I was joined by one of my favorite all time local bands, Birds and Arrows. Pete and Andrea brought some guests into the station to promote an folk/hip-hop show they were putting on at White Collar Crime called “Folk What You Heard.” Millie Vaughn, Lazarus, and Corey McLemore provided some great insight into their craft and even free-styled over a ukulele beat for us. The whole hour was a lot of fun and I know you will enjoy it once again.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

Friday, July 6′s “The Local Beat Beat” is the first in our July series of the “Best Of The Local Beat”.  Every year I take a month off from the program and allow our listeners to revisit some old interviews that we have done on the program. Every Friday evening in July 2012 we will be doing flashbacks at some of my favorite interviews. Tonight’s are examples from some of the finest:

At 5 p.m. we are going to hear an interview from April 2011 when one of my favorite groups around, Mount Moriah, dropped by to talk about the band and their debut self titled release. We spent a great deal of time talking about the formation of the band and their sound as well as the founding members, Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller, and their various other projects. Heather and Jenks are two of the nicest and sweetest people and had a great deal to share about their music and their craft.

For the second hour we are only looking back briefly to January of 2012 when Jeff Crawford visited “The Local Beat” for one evening to talk about a new album that he was releasing through his own studio, Arbor Ridge Studios. The album was a collection of hymns performed by various North Carolina musicians in support of the music department of a Durham church where Jeff is the music director. The church is the Gathering Church and the album is Hymns From The Gathering Church. Jeff and I mused about religion and music, his role in our community’s music scene and various other topics. That interview begins a little after 6 p.m.

At 7 p.m., the program will conclude with an interview I did a little over a year ago with Phil Cook. Phil is mostly known for his part in Megafaun, but he also has a wonderful instrumental and acoustic solo act, Phil Cook and His Feat, which many of my listeners will recognize. Our conversation leaned heavily on his newly released album at the time, Hungry Mother Blues. Phil also played several live songs in studio.

If you heard these interviews the first time I hope you enjoy them as much as your did before. If these are new conversations to your ears I hope you appreciate them as much as I.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

This evening’s Local Beat was the shortest in awhile due to #13 ranked NC State playing Virginia Tech in baseball at 5:30pm. However, Jack the Radio joined us on the phone for a brief moment to chat about their brand new album, Low Country, and promote the album release party tomorrow afternoon at Big Boss Brewery.

Jack the Radio is a rising band in our state and their sophomore album does not disappoint with keeping true to their self-proclaimed “Southern Indie Rock” sound that touches on a wide variety of influences but leans closest to southern bar rock while teetering the line with indie masters Yo La Tengo or the Extraordinaires.  The show tomorrow is  free event and starts at 3pm with food trucks from Only Burger, Chicken Que, and Sarges. Music starts around 3:30pm and the band will be bringing on some mystery guest musicians to play along. However, I highly recommend dropping in at 2pm for the always popular brewery tour that happens the second Saturday of each month before sticking around for the other festivities.

Take a listen to the very short interview here:

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Tonight’s Local Beat will be starting at 5 p.m. while we showcase some brand new tunes by musicians from our state.

Bones for Tinder

At 6 p.m. the interviews will be starting up as we welcome Justin Robinson & the Mary Annettes onto the program for the first time. Justin is a Local Beat alum (his old band the Carolina Chocolate Drops visited our studio before) so we will welcome him back with his new group to chat about the band and their new album, Bones for Tinder. Justin is a highly entertaining and knowledgeable interviewee so I greatly look forward to hearing his thoughts on a variety of topics.

At 7 p.m. we are bringing in local ambient group Oulipo to talk about the band. As many of you know, I have been following Oulipo for sometime now so I am thankful to finally have them on the program to chat about their music and work.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

Due to a baseball game there will be no Local Beat this evening. It’s the Wolfpack’s first game of the season and they will be taking on the Marshall Thundering Herd right here in Raleigh at Doak Field at 3 p.m. Last season NCSU went 35-27 overall and made it to the Columbia Regionals in the NCAA tournament before falling to Stetson on June 5, 2011. Since then, NCSU has accumulated a nice recruiting class and have many players back again to try and win the ACC Championship for the first time since 1992.

It is likely that the game will end before 8 p.m., when The Local Beat is scheduled to go off the air, but I will not be coming in and there are no guests for the evening.

In the meantime, tune in and listen to the baseball team hopefully start the season off right with a win!

Be sure to follow The Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

Tonight on The Local Beat we are introducing two bands who have just recently arrived to our airwaves. At 5 p.m. we are greeting Jeff Shields, who has a wonderful electronica solo act called Kleptonaut. Kleptonaut released its newest album, The Golden Age of Space Travel, in November 2011, and it is full of beautifully synthesized instrumentals and wonderfully produced special effects. Jeff is also quite a character with a great sense of humor so there is no doubt he will be an entertaining guest.

At 6 p.m. we are bringing on some old Local Beat guests under a new guise: Alpha Cop. Perhaps you have heard this new psychedelic indie math rock group on our airwaves for the past couple of weeks but now is your chance to meet them. A group of veteran musicians from very diverse backgounds, Alpha Cop blends psychedelic rock with progressive math vibes to create a wholly unique and interesting sound. We will be chatting about the band and their new EP This One’s For Luck.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

We have a shortened program this Friday evening, Jan. 27, on The Local Beat as N.C. State Women’s Basketball is taking on ACC challenger Florida State at 6:30 p.m.

At 5 p.m, though, we are welcoming a new band to the show, the Evil Tenors. While you might not have heard of the group before, it is likely you know some of the band members: Nathan White (Nathan Oliver), John Harrison (North Elementary), Mas Sato (The Sames), Stuart Cullinan (Tennis and the Mennonites), and Roy Elturk (Oblisk). Delving into psychedelic and surf rock, the band has a unique, interesting sound and will be releasing an EP this spring. This will be the first time you can hear the band over the radio, so it will not be a show you want to miss.

Our basketball team is 13-7 overall and 3-4 in conference games. FSU is 11-10 overall and is also 3-4 in ACC play. Let’s cheer on our Wolfpack women tonight after The Local Beat!

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow The Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

This week on The Local Beat we only have one guest to welcome. At 6 p.m. Jeff Crawford of Arbor Ridge Studios is coming on to chat about a new project. In addition to being active in over five dozen bands (only a slight exaggeration) and heading popular local recording studio Arbor Ridge Studios, Jeff is also the music director at The Gathering Church in Durham. The Gathering Church has been meeting since 2009 at Creekside Elementary School and has become well known for its worship services with Jeff’s musical talents taking stage. In 2010 the church released Christmas Nights: Music From The Gathering Church to great fanfare. Now, just a little over a year later, a new album is being released: Hymns From The Gathering Church. The album features a plethora of well-known local artists performing their takes on traditional Christian hymns.  Phil Cook (Megafaun), Heather McEntire (Mount Moriah), Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), Mandolin Orange, Skylar Gudasz, Ryan Gustafson, Brett Harris, Nick Jaeger (The Tomahawks), Mark Simonsen (The Old Ceremony), and James Wallace all contributed to the record.

Join Jeff and I on The Local Beat as we take a listen and chat about this new album.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

Last Friday, Jan. 13, on The Local Beat we had two very special guests join us. At 5 p.m. the Kickin’ Grass Band popped in for the first time in about a year to promote their 10th Anniversary Show at the Carolina Theatre the following night. There were plenty of laughs and anecdotes as the band shared stories with us from the past 10 years. Take a listen below:

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At 6 p.m. the quartet from Monoslang joined the program to discuss the group’s new self-titled EP. The band has only been together in this lineup for six weeks and in that time they booked a show at Kings Barcade, recorded a 3-song EP and released it. Quite a busy six weeks! Listen to the interview below to hear their story:

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The Local Beat is back this week with the first of many guests in 2012.

At 5 p.m. long-time regulars on the program, the Kickin’ Grass Band, will be back in studio. KGB has been hard at work for the past year travelling and touring across our great nation but are finally playing another show in our area tomorrow night. It is a special event as well; the band has officially been together for 10 years and this will be the “Ten Year Anniversary Show.” The concert is tomorrow night in Durham’s Carolina Theatre with the Apple Hill Cloggers and other special guests. Tickets are $15 and available at www.carolinatheatre.org  and www.pinecone.org,  by phone at (919) 560-3030 or toll free (888) 241-8162, or at the Carolina Theatre box office. The band will be playing live in studio as usual and I will be asking them to share some stories from the past 10 years.

At 6 p.m. we will be welcoming in a new band to The Local Beat, one that has been creating quite a bit of publicity recently. Monoslang, a new group from Raleigh, will be showing up to chat about their new self titled EP which is slated to be released tomorrow night at Kings Barcade in downtown Raleigh. Monoslang is made up of four area musicians who mic trip-hop, post-rock, and indie together to form a very unique sound. I will talk with the group about their history and sound and listen to some of the new tunes off of the EP.

Minor Stars and No Eyes are also playing the show which will cost $5 and start at 10 p.m.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

David Thompson is an N.C. State basketball legend. He led the Wolfpack to its first NCAA championship in 1974, and he graces the cover of Raleigh-based Kooley High’s newest album, Kooley High Presents… David Thompson.  This Saturday, Dec. 10, hip-hop enthusiasts will celebrate the release of this new album with a CD release party at The Pour House in downtown Raleigh featuring Kooley High, King Mez, Actual Proof, and Lazurus.  The show is 21+ and doors open at 9 p.m.

I’m what you might call a hip-hop novice. I set my Pandora to Mos Def and I’m good for hours. Kooley High Presents… David Thompson is definitely helping me branch out into the genre.  The group of former NCSU students layers funky beats and clever rhymes to create a sound that I’m not quite used to, but I’m definitely into.  I’m especially a fan of track six, a special anthem titled “Dear Raleigh” that actually makes me feel attached to the red-brick ocean that is NCSU.  New Raleigh blog agrees that Kooley High does Raleigh justice.

Adam Kincaid will host the group on The Local Beat tonight from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. I’m hoping to get a glimpse into Kooley High’s inspiration, their reasoning behind the iconic album cover, and hear more about their upcoming show.

Luckily for you (and me), I will be attending Saturday’s show and reporting back on Monday, Dec. 12.  Come back to the blog to read about my experience with four of Raleigh’s best hip hop artists.

This evening on the Local Beat we are having another jam-packed show with three hours of local music goodness.

One of my favorite bands in the area, Mandolin Orange, is starting off the program at 5 p.m. to chat about their new double album that is being released at Cat’s Cradle on Saturday, Sept. 24. The album is entitled Haste Make/Hard Hearted Stranger and was recorded at two different studios in the past year. According to their website,

“Haste Make was recorded with Jeff Crawford and James Wallace in winter 2010/2011 at Arbor Ridge Studios West in Franklin, NC and at Arbor Ridge Studios in Chapel Hill, and was produced by Jeff Crawford and Mandolin Orange. Hard-Hearted Stranger was recorded in summer 2011 at Rubber Room Studios in Chapel Hill and features Andrew and Emily alone, produced by Andrew Marlin.”

The Tenderfruit are opening for Mandolin Orange at 9 p.m. and tickets are only $10.

I will try to coerce Emily and Andrew to play some live tracks for us on the radio so you don’t want to miss out on that treat.

6 p.m. brings in ’80s Chapel Hill dream poppers, The Veldt, who are playing a show at the Southland Ballroom this evening at 9:30 p.m. You might remember these guys from their amazing 1994 release Afrodisiac or the follow up LP in 1998, Love at First Hate (or maybe you don’t). Regardless, they are local legends and it is going to be an absolute thrill and honor to have them on the Local Beat, especially since they rarely ever perform live. We will be talking about the history of the band, their scene, their connection to CBS’s hit show, Survivor, and all things in between. Doors at the Southland Ballroom are opening at 8 p.m. with music starting at 9:30. Brooklyn-based Your 33 Black Angels and Chapel Hill group 100 Yorktown are starting the show and tickets are only $10. In addition, the band is encouraging everyone to film the concert and email the footage to theveldtrocks@gmail.com for an upcoming DVD.

The last hour of the program will feature yet another local music festival, our fourth on the program in the last three weeks. Sara Waters, co-coordinator of Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival, is stopping by to chat about this fall’s festival, which will take place October 6-9 in the woods and fields of Pittsboro, N.C. Shakori Hills has long been a staple in central North Carolina, with two festivals each year. We are going to play music from bands and musicians featured at this fall’s event. Sara and I are also going to talk about the history of Shakori Hills, some fun things going on at the festival this year, and be giving away free tickets. You don’t want to miss this final hour.

As always, “The Local Beat” starts at 5 p.m. and runs through 8 p.m. every Friday evening on WKNC. Listen live here and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and ReverbNation!