Every now and then, I am reminded that I am student by a sudden kick in the groin from copious amounts of schoolwork and I am down for the count for a little while.  That has recently happened to my Local Beat producers and me who have spent the last three weeks either out of town or slaving through text books and notecards trying not to completely fail at graduating on time (I myself am already a year behind).  Because of this we want to apologize for running about four weeks behind schedule with our weekly Local Beat podcasts.  Fortunately, instead of having 12 interviews to edit, we have only missed three, and here they are below (also, check out the ReverbNation player at the bottom of the post to listen to and download all the songs played live):

March 26: Brett Harris
March 26 was the first live Local Beat I had been able to do in a month because of NC State Baseball broadcasts and Durham rock/pop singer Brett Harris dropped by for what turned out to be one of my favorite interviews in a long while as we talked about his brand new album Man of Few Words, an LP that could possibly break my top 10 for the year.  We talked in depth about the recording of the album, the multitude of artists that assisted him in recording, and compared everything to his past couple of EPs. Brett played two live tracks for us that you can watch in the videos below and download in the ReverbNation player at the bottom of the page.   Brett released the album at the Nightlight on April 2nd with Luego and Bright Young Things for what turned out to be an amazing show.  Check out our conversation:

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The Local Beat w/ Adam Kincaid: Brett Harris “Unspoken (Live)” from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

Local Beat w/ Adam Kincaid: Brett Harris “Man of a Few Words (Live)” from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

April 2: Free Electric State
One of the hottest bands in North Carolina graced my program three weeks ago.   Free Electric State is blowing up in the local press and media for their blazing rock n’ roll live shows and the hype surrounding their debut LP following in the heels of their first two song demo from ’09.  And though FES is a relatively new band, most of the members are not knew to performing or songwriting and it certainly shows with this latest output.  We spent the hour talking about Caress and the differences in the band now from a year ago.  We also touched on the recording process and Duck Kee Studios and the involvement of Churchkey Records who is releasing the album.  The album release party was April 16th at the Pinhook with Beloved Binge and A Rooster For The Masses although the album itself will not be released until April 27th.   Take a listen to the interview below and also watch the newest muisc video for the song “6 is 1″ from Caress as well:

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April 9: Mandolin Orange
Every now and again I hear a record that I cannot for the life of me stop playing and Mandolin Orange’s recent release Quiet Little Room is just one of those.  Soft, quiet, simple, and yet catchy and beautiful all at the same time,  Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz really outdid themselves on this debut full length.  Following their locally acclaimed debut EP they put out this past year Andrew and Emily spent late nights alone in the studio mastering and perfecting Quiet Little Room with Andrew’s songwriting skills and Emily’s finishing touch.  The couple came in to chat about the new record and the past year, but mostly to play plenty of songs for me and you.  Listen in below and be sure to check out the album release party coming up the May 1 at the Local 506 with friend Big Fat Gap and Ryan Gustafson:

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The Troika Music Festival is a three-day music festival in Durham, NC and features several local bands. Attending is a great way to support the local scene!

Local bands on this year’s line-up include The Love Language, Bowerbirds, Dexter Romweber Duo, Birds of Avalon, The Moaners, Red Collar, Future Islands, Hamer No More The Fingers, Lonnie Walker, Embarrassing Fruits, Max Indian, and many more. For a complete list, check out the schedule!

New this year is “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, on Saturday, November 7, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., which features a unique market of art and handmade wears from local artists and crafters.

Come out to support the local music and arts scene November 5,6, & 7.

Curtains of Night were the last band of the evening, starting around 12:30. By the time they played I, and I assumed everyone else, was completely exhaused. It's a shame that every time I've seen this band it's been after about 21 hours of being awake. It was completely worth the physical exhaustion, they really delivered on the heavy rock action.

For the last three years, the good people at Bull City Headquarters, Durham’s community bicycle co-op/art space/occasional concert venue, has presented the Duo Fest, which showcases a diverse variety of two-person bands.  This years Duo Fest was last Saturday, and I must say it was amazing.  From the country tinged folk of Sequoya, to the intense sludge metal of Curtains of Night, the one-day festival had a little something for everyone.  It was almost too much rock and roll for one day; there were fifteen bands playing for about nine hours.  Even though I arrived about an hour late and sadly missed Battle Rockets and most of Sawteeth McTweedy, by the end of this epic day of constant musical stimulation I was totally exhausted. But, it was more than worth it to stick around to the end.

I, not being much of a writer, will not go into great detail on the fantastic show most of you missed, instead I’ll just post a bunch of pictures.

Curtains of Night

Veelee does some pretty impressive indie pop, I hadn't heard this band before seeing them, but I got a copy of their demo so expect to hear them on WKNC soon.

DC punkers Trophy wife rocked pretty hard.

Trophy Wife

Trophy Wife

All Your Science is always mind-blowing. It's amazing how good two People, one guitar, and three drums can be.

All Your Science

Beloved Binge

Another highlight of the show was the Saint Peter Pocket Veto from Winston Salem. I hadn't previously heard of this band but I should have. They did loud and fast instrumentals, a bit like the harder type of post rock or shoegaze.

The Saint Peter Pocket Veto

Spacelab

Spacelab

Victor Victor Band came all the way from Pennsylvania. They have sort of a bluesy rock and roll sound with great lead guitar.

Victor Victor Band

Sequoya

Fortress of Swatches did some pretty damn good Fugaziesque post-punk.

Basalt

Scientific Superstar