In 6 hours, we will advance into the Final Four of Soundtap’s Madness College Radio Showdown. We need your help to advance to the finals! Basically, Soundtap created a competition modeled after College Basketball’s NCAA Tournament. They chose 64 college radio stations to go head to head. We have made it through to the Elite Eight and it looks like we will be moving into the Final Four. You advance to the next round by having more hours of people streaming your station through their website. Rutgers University and Carnegie Mellon University have been battling it out hard and we will face the winner starting at 3 am. We need your help to beat them to move on for the chance to win it all. Here is what you need to do:

1. Go to http://soundtap.com/madness. They also have a free iPhone app that you can find by searching Soundtap.
2. Click on WKNC and hit Listen Live!
3. YOU HAVE TO LOG IN IN ORDER FOR IT TO COUNT. You can log in with either your Facebook or email address.
4. LISTEN ENDLESSLY! Remember to check the page about every hour or so. While the stream will not stop playing, it will stop counting towards our total time. A message will pop up and ask: “ARE YOU STILL LISTENING?” Once you click “YES I AM!!!!” it will start counting the time you have spent streaming again.

Thank you so much for helping us out with this competition and don’t forget to vote for us in Indy’s Best of 2013!

Come join us next Friday, April 12th, at 6pm for WKNC’s final installment for the semester of Fridays on the Lawn. It’s going to be a grand ol’ time with two incredible indie rock acts: Lonnie Walker and Oulipo. Fridays on the Lawn is WKNC’s free outside concert series. It will be located on Harris Field in front of the Witherspoon building.

Lonnie Walker, who played for WKNC’s 45th birthday party last year, is returning from some recent time off and we couldn’t be happier. Lonnie Walker started out in Greenville, North Carolina and songwriter Brian Corum later relocated to Raleigh with his band. They have since played a countless number of shows including at Hopscotch Music Festival and have really made a name for themselves in North Carolina’s local music scene.

Lonnie Walker frontman Brian Corum at WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit 6, Feb. 5, 2009. Photo by Michele Chandler.

Oulipo, a young band from Raleigh, has also played for Hopscotch Music Festival as well as WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit X. The band is signed to local label DiggUp Tapes and describes themselves as being in the art pop/ rock genre. Oulipo has been compared to Panda Bear with their synthetic vocals and very abstract pop sound.

Oulipo

Bring a blanket and some friends while you enjoy some free food and listen to these great bands. Join the Facebook event for more information as the event approaches!

Every year, Independent Weekly holds a vote for the best of that year in the Triangle.  Voting for the Best of 2013 has already begun.  Vote for your Triangle favorites in the six different categories: Wine & Dine, Out & About, Goods, Services, Media and Comments section.  Voting will end April 15th.  Be sure to get in your votes for all sorts of awards such as best local brewery, best restaurants, best place to people watch, best venues, and most importantly best radio station.  So get out there and vote to give your favorites in the Triangle the chance they deserve to be recognized!You can vote here.  Here are the categories that we are in the running for:

 
Best College Radio Station
Best Non-Profit Radio Station
Best Local Internet Radio Station
Best Commercial Radio Station (if you’re feeling really crazy and want to stick it to the man)
Best Radio DJ- Vote for Adam Kincaid the host of The Local Beat Fridays 5-8pm
Best Local Blog

Maryland Deathfest, the self-proclaimed biggest American metal party of the year, is quickly creeping up! With tickets having been rapidly selling since the fest’s lineup announcements last year, it is nearly impossible now to get tickets to any of the big events through the fest’s official website. Tickets to the Thursday Sonar show (Bolt Thrower) and Friday’s Soundstage show (Infest) are current in incredibly high demand.

Thursday has an extremely impressive line-up, featuring the almighty Bolt Thrower, who hardly comes to the United States as it is! Funeral doom gods Evoken are also set to play on Thursday – I’m personally especially excited to see them. Other notable acts are Japanese black-thrashers Abigail and U.S. doom lords Pallbearer. Friday features grindcore gods Repulsion, Benediction, and several other insane acts. Saturday and Sunday are also filled with incredible bands well worth seeing, such as Canada’s war metal maniacs Revenge and U.K.’s Cruciamentum.

This is most definitely not an event to miss. Previous attendants of Maryland Deathfest will tell you how awesome the food is, how crazy the shows are, and how insane the record selection is. Prepare to bring hundreds of dollars for records alone!

As for the details on the fest, as many of you may already know, it begins Thursday, May 23rd, and ends Sunday, May 26th. This is a perfect start date for college students, such as myself, who have been slaving over schoolwork all year just to get their fix of summer metal fun!

The Infest reunion is going to be absolutely insane. I’ll see you dudes in the mosh. I hope you all have your tickets!

Here is the link to the running order of all the shows: http://www.marylanddeathfest.com/runningorder.html

-Possessed

Tuesday, April 2nd- Brett Harris, Young Rapids, and Paperhaus at Motorco Music Hall, 8pm, FREE

 (Young Rapids)

As always, the Triangle provides us with some great concerts this week.  You can check out the full round-up over at the Rock Report.  The standout show for this week features local singer/songwriter Brett Harris as well as two up and coming indie pop-rock bands out of DC. Brett Harris has become something of a local master of pop. He began his career by releasing a batch of EPs and touring heavily. His debut album Man of Few Words was released in 2010 and made its rounds through various music blogs.  After some time off since its release, he is back at it again.

But the main highlight of this show are the bands making their way down from DC.  Young Rapids released their debut album Day Light Savings last year.  The album received quite a bit of praise from all around including some love from NPR’s All Songs Considered as their infectious breed of perfectly crafted indie pop-rock took hold.  Their music is a very smartly composed and driven of indie rock that is sure to get you going.  With them they bring an even newer band out of DC, Paperhaus.  Paperhaus is a band in much of the same vain with a bit more of a psychedelic influence.  Their new song “Helicopters” off their upcoming EP, Lo Hi Lo, was recently featured on NPR.  While love for music from DC is to expected from NPR, this DC duo of bands have received a stamp of approval from the rest of the country as well as their two-month nationwide tour approaches its end.  So be sure to stop by the Motorco this Tuesday for a great time.  Who can say no to a free show?

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival

Just three weeks away is the much anticipated Spring 2013 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance. The four-day festival begins April 18 in Chatham County and lasts through April 21. Over 60 bands will be performing on four stages throughout the festival. Some of these scheduled bands include Keller Williams & The Travelin’ McCourys, Lizzy Ross Band, Onward, Soldiers, Donna the Buffalo, Solas, and many others!

Advance 4-day tickets are available online and at various locations in North Carolina including Pittsboro, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Students get a $5 discount with day tickets. More information regarding tickets can be found here.

Every week, WKNC compiles a list of charts and adds. Here are the Daytime Indie Rock charts for this week. You can tune into our Daytime programming weekdays from 5am to 7pm.

When you think of a house show, you typically think a grungy basement with beer cans strewn everywhere. This show was quite different. This concert was put on by Common Chord Concerts, a self-proclaimed “network of music-lovers in Charlotte and surrounding communities that share an interest in original acoustic, Americana and folk/rock music.” Common Chord has only been in existence for a couple months, but has put on some incredible shows so far with a strong line-up of shows in the coming months.

After walking into the Common Chords founder’s wonderful home, I knew this show would be anything but ordinary even by Bombadil’s standards. The atmosphere was very light-hearted as show-goers brought snacks to share and mingled with the band members and other fans. The turn-out for the show was quite impressive for this being Common Chords’ third event. As 8 o’clock approached, everyone made their way into the living room area where the band had set up their equipment. Some moved to the kitchen and others to the balcony to get a better view as everyone geared up for the concert that was about to take place in the living room.

Everyone cheered as the band members made the transition from socializing to taking the makeshift stage space in their usual eccentric clothes. James announced that it had been a while since they had played a house show and they were really looking forward to the intimate opportunity. This show was to be my first time seeing them as a three-piece since their guitarist Bryan was off finishing his graduate studies and unable to join. They are each incredibly talented songwriters and musicians, so I was interested to see how their show would hold up with the absence of a band member. I was not disappointed. The performances were incredible and the atmosphere made for some great story-telling about the origins of the songs. The narratives made for one of the most intimate shows I had been to as Daniel shared his hardships of trying to continue writing songs while he was suffering from nerve damage several years back. The stories covered everything from sweet tea to cross country unicycle rides as the entire audience listened and laughed along.

There seemed to be no real set list as they continuously called out songs to each other as well as asking the audience for requests. They played a good mix of songs that spanned their entire career. From “Jellybean Wine” and “Johnny” to new songs such as “Have Me” and “Boring Country Song” from their upcoming album Metrics of Affection due out July 23rd. Everyone in attendance was singing along and enjoying the incredible performance. To make the night even more personal, they relocated to the kitchen to perform an a cappella version of “Get to Getting On.” At one point, Daniel made Stuart perform his new solo piano song “What Does It Mean” as he joined the crowd in the rows of folding chairs and couches. Although they seemed to have played every song in their repertoire, the show ended all too quickly with an extraordinary performance of “Honeymoon.” They barely finished bowing before someone in the kitchen started chanting encore. As a form of payback, Stuart then joined the ranks of chairs as he made Daniel give a stirring rendition of “Marriage” as everyone sang along. After the applause faded, they took their places at their instruments one last time for the song “We Were Meant to Be.” After thanking the audience and the hosts, the house once again transitioned from venue to house party as everyone milled around and socialized after the mutual experience. Although it was not quite your typical concert, the unique atmosphere made for one amazing night with the always impressive Bombadil.

We just released the new NC State Student Media App today!  We are really excited about this great new feature.  It is easy to use and looks incredible.  The app is available to download for free to both your Apple and Android devices.  This app gives you the ability to stream WKNC, check out recently played songs, and request songs easily from your mobile device!   It also features amazing content content from the Technician, the Agromeck, the Windhover, and the Nubian Message.  Be sure to download the app for another easy way to listen to WKNC.

Hopscotch Music Festival just recently announced their upcoming Hopscotch Road Shows shown above. Several other music festivals such as Bonnaroo have begun to do this. This is Hopscotch’s first attempt to bring some of their past festival favorites on the road to some new areas to try and spread their influence. Hopscotch is now going into its fourth year of existence, and it continues to grow. Hopscotch 2013 takes place September 5th-7th all across downtown Raleigh. While the line-up has not been announced yet, they just recently revealed that the co-founder of The Velvet Underground, John Cale, will be performing at this year’s festival. The rest of the line-up will be announced in late April. With the additional effort being to put into road shows and the success of past years, this year’s festival promises to be the best yet.

Each of the road shows host an incredibly strong line-up. All of these bands have performed either at past festivals or at day parties. Most of these acts hail from North Carolina and are no stranger to putting on incredible live shows. With each show only being $5, there is no way that you have any better to do on these nights. So be sure to check out the road show nearest you and stay tuned for the full line-up announcement for Hopscotch 2013 in late April!

Birds and Arrows began back in 2007 as a husband and wife duo.  Andrea Connolly wielded the guitar as Pete commanded the drums.  On appearance, most people might have shrugged off the music.  With two people who are stuck together for better or worse, how much could their music really have to offer?  Their first batch of EPs easily dismissed these notions.  The instrumentation seemed to amount to so much more than just a couple on stage.  Their vocals complemented each other perfectly and made the music so much stronger than bands who enlist a whole army on stage.  In 2009, cellist Josh Starmer joined the line-up adding a whole other dimension to their already incredible sound.  His cello lines swimming in and out of the music along with their sweet, melodic voices.  Their calming breed of chamber indie-folk is an incredibly refreshing sound to fans of any type of music.

 
Since their inception, they have toured heavily throughout the Carolinas as well as several stints up and down the east coast. They have performed at several WKNC events including last year’s Double Barrel Benefit as well as Local Band Local Beer.  In their six years of existence, they have perfected their live show engaging a wide variety of audiences.  They make those who have no experience with folk music sway with their beautifully arranged music and their smooth, infectious melodies.  Their third full length Coyotes, is due out March 19th.  This album promises to be their best effort to date.  They recently released the music video for their first single “Firefly” from the upcoming album in Shuffle Magazine. Their tour dates for their upcoming east coast tour are here.  Be sure to check them out Thursday, March 14 at 6pm as we interview them live at WKNC for our Local Artist of the Month segment!

http://birdsandarrows.com
http://www.facebook.com/birdsandarrowsmusic

Every week, WKNC compiles a list of charts and adds. Here are the Daytime Indie Rock charts for this week. You can tune into our Daytime programming weekdays from 5am to 7pm.

For those of you who have no idea about modern punk bands, there’s an insane fest coming up that definitely destroys most punk shows I’ve seen popping up recently. Damaged City Fest is a huge fest taking place in DC (get it?) on April 12th and 13th at St. Stephen’s Church. And coolest of all, Double Negative (Raleigh hardcore) is playing.

At the top of the poster is legendary hardcore punk band Negative Approach, whose song ‘Ready To Fight’ has been covered by literally half of the good bands I’ve seen in my life, if that says anything. Dropdead sits at the top as well – their plain-looking logo says nothing about how brutal the band is. Last time I saw Dropdead was in DC with Magrudergrind – they definitely play harder than most younger dudes.

Double Negative (Raleigh’s own hardcore outfit) earns a top spot as well on the poster. Their psyched-out style of hardcore has earned them a much-deserved, worldwide reputation.

Prisoner Abuse, a band that has been receiving a lot of hype recently, is playing as well, featuring the vocalist from Think I Care. Other bands I’m definitely looking forward to are Sick Fix, Tenement, and Ilsa.

This fest is being put on by cool dudes for cool dudes, so if you’re a cool dude, it would only make sense if you went and supported the Raleigh and DC scenes.

Here is a link to the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/512544085444884/?fref=ts

And here is a link to the poster (of course I do not claim any sort of rights to this awesome poster):

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/17639_10200110418417024_1819221175_n.jpg

-Possessed

Girls Rock North Carolina is a nonprofit organization focused on empowering girls and women to become confident and engaged members of their community through creative expression. The program uses music as a way to build community and self-esteem by centering around creativity, confidence, and collaboration. The organization’s biggest program is Rock Camp for Girls. The camp is a one week summer event in which campers between the ages 9-16 are instructed in an instrument of their choice, form bands, and write original music with their peers. This year the event is the week of July 22nd at Saint Mary’s School. Activities between band practices include attending workshops on songwriting, self defense, DIY, zine making, deejaying, body confidence, and more. During their time at camp, the girls are mentored by musicians, educators, and activists. The week concludes with a showcase at King’s in downtown Raleigh on Friday, July 26th at 6:00 pm.

No musical background or instrument are necessary to participate! If you sign up your girls before March 1st, then the $10 registration fee is waived!

To register follow this link!

Each week, WKNC compiles a list of charts and adds.  Here are the Afterhours charts for this week.  You can tune into Afterhours programming Tuesday and Wednesday nights starting at 8pm.