Well, I’m working on doing some serious shopping and I honestly cannot believe how expensive all the things I want are. Why is everything in the world I want so expensive?  I finally found a denim shirt that I like and it’s 150 dollars. Like Dayum! But you can always save some money by listening to WKNC. This week at 88.1 WKNC Raleigh we’ve got just a few giveaways, but we’ve still got some amazing tracks coming your way.

We’ve got:

Underoath w/ Times of Grace @ Lincoln Theater : July 5

Whatever Brains LP Release Party @ Kings Barcade : July 7

R. Stevie Moore @ Kings Barcade : July 8

Clay Pigeons @ Kings Barcade : July 9

So, as always make sure you’re listening to 88.1 WKNC. We’ve got to best tunes, that are free and some great giveaways, which are free. Maybe if I keep listening and working for 88.1 I can buy that denim shirt.

So, I’m sitting in the DJ Lounge at WKNC, looking at the Tetris machine, our two cornhole boards and a poster for the film 2012 with a post-it of ‘Hillary Clinton’ and I am just reminded how misanthropic I am. Anyways, here’s the upcoming giveaways for We.Know.North.Carolina. (continue reading…)

By C Creature

Saturday night at Kings Barcade brought a packed house and good tunes from the killer line-up of headliner Annuals, Luego and Jenna & the Jintlemen. I was super excited about Luego as I saw them a few months ago and knew they put on a good show. I had heard good things about Jenna & the Jintlemen and after meeting the lead, Jenna Smith, a few weekends ago while out with friends, I was excited to see her and her “Jintlemen” do their thing. Headliner, Annuals, had their national debut on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, so having never seen them perform, my expectations were high.

When I got there Jenna & the Jintlemen were just finishing up with two songs left in their set; however, I only needed to hear about 30 seconds to know that I loved her voice and band. She’s got a sweet, dreamy and delicate voice, which makes listening to her easy and ever-so-pleasant. Since I was late, I’m not sure if she played “Marcello, Marcello,” but that is one of my favorites by her and it showcases her voice beautifully.

After Jenna & the Jintlemen exited stage left, Luego took the spotlight to bring us some indie/alternative country rock, a few of the songs laced with a soft Spanish influence (especially those from the Ocho album). Lead, Patrick Phelan, has a unique voice and is unmistakable for anyone else’s in the Triangle and definitely makes you think of voices like Paul McCartney’s and Bob Dylan’s…maybe a little Rod Stewart. Dressed in a simple white v-neck decorated only by an ambiguous rectangle rolled into his sleeve (he claimed they weren’t “real” cigarettes), grey Levi’s and cowboy boots, he convinced me we were in years bygone. His  songs have lyrics that  are simple and melodic with out being kitschy. Supported by Peter Holsapple, William Moose, Mark Connor, Cameron Lee, Charles Cleaver, Jeff Crawford and Will Goodyear, Luego is a collective band of friendly, endearing outlaws just singing about what they know. I’m honestly struck by how classic the themes of their songs are and how good they pull it off. Some bands try and seem like they can sing songs like “You Better Run,” or “Atta Boy,” or “Jesse James,” or “How ‘Bout Them Rules,” but can’t with out sounding painfully cliche. Luego has a great talent for using their inspirations to make fresh songs that only later make you think, “Wow, that sounded kind of like ‘_______’.”

Standing in the crowd officially feeling like if I walked out side I’d see cacti, tumbleweeds and maybe a sheriff, Luego finished and was rewarded with gracious applause from the crowd. Luego smiled, said thanks and introduced headliners, Annuals.

Now, as I previously stated, I’ve never seen Annuals perform before; however, I’ve heard nothing but great things from people whose music taste I respect AND they’ve played on Conan twice. While they were setting up, people continued to pour into the venue, showing me just how serious of a fan base they have and just why they headlined: people love them.

However.

I do not, I found out. I was actually really disappointed because I just knew that after Jenna & and the Jintlemin and Luego, two groups I love, Annuals would only further my “I’m at such a great show” high, but as it turned out, they did quite the opposite and sobered me up. Led by Adam Baker and supported by Kenny Florence, Mike Robinson, Zach Oden, Anna Spence and Nick Radford, they sang a bunch of songs I couldn’t understand the words to and really didn’t care to find out. I was reminded of too many songs I listened to when I was 16 and add that to Adam’s “yell-singing” as I call it, I just had to shake my head. I expressed my concern and confusion to a compadre of mine at the bar and he looked at me like I was crazy and went on to tell me how much he just “loved, loved, loved” Annuals and why they were so great. For the rest of the night he and many of my other friends witnessed to me and tried to convert me into a fan because apparently if you don’t like Annuals, you’re going to musical hell where Rebecca Black reins supreme.

In any case, none of them convinced me and since then I’ve tried to find a song I at least kind of like, but I just can’t. My ears do not like them and here is why: there is no real melody just a lot of yelling, loud guitars and drums.

That being said, are they talented? Yes. Do they know how to put on a show? Yes, very much so. Did they pack the house? Yes. Do I understand their appeal? Yes. So there it is, I can 100% endorse the fact that they did a great job at Kings, tickling the fancy of all their fans and never made a mistake that I could tell.

So IN CONCLUSION, anyone who went to Kings Saturday night had no excuse to not have a freakin’ awesome time. Every band rocked it out with their respective fans loving it. It was definitely one of my favorite shows of June and flawlessly executed by all groups involved.

This week, we’ve got some incredible giveaways at We Know North Carolina (WKNC). So make sure you’re crankin’ up the Revolution this week! We’ve got All Tiny Creatures, Kingsbury Max, Thao & Mirah AND MORE! So, if you want to crash a concert for free this coming week, keep listenin’.

6/9            Women helping Women @ Cardinal Club

6/9            All Tiny Creatures w/ Phil Cook and His Feat @ Kings

6/10            Kingsbury Manx w/ Birds & Arrows @ Kings

6/11            Thao & Mirah w/ Bobby, Led to Sea @ Local 506

6/12            Joe Purdy w/ The Milk Carton Kids @ Cats

Also, all week you can win sweet swag from the film ‘Win-Win‘ starring Paul Giamatti. Win Posters, Shirts & More only at your local, neighborhood WKNC.

On a side note, this week’s celebrity birthdays include Natalie Portman, Johnny Depp, Judy Garland, Gene Wilder and Jacque Cousteau. Happy Birthday!

The Revolution is giving away some truly phenomenal tickets this week! Whether you’re layin’ out ‘n’ listenin’ or stayin’ in, have your phone handy. This week 88.1 FM Raleigh is giving away tickets to:

6/2 Holy Ghost Tent Revival @ Kings Barcade

6/9 Sondre Lerhe @ Cat’s Cradle

6/9 All Tiny Creatures @ Kings

6/9 Women Helping Women @ Cardinal Club

6/10 Kingsbury Manx @ Kings

6/11 Decemberists with Best Coast @ Raleigh Amphitheater

Thomas Jefferson once said ‘Every Generation Needs a New Revolution’, so listening to Eighty-Eight point One is essentially in our constitution.

Yo, Yo Yiggity Yo.

If you like/love/can-admit-an-appreciation-for, The Decemberists, Best Coast, The Morning After, Corrosion of Conformity, Beggars, Dance Music for Nerds, Caltrop, Americans in France, Jews & Catholics, Red Collar, Dangerous Ponies or Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, then you should LISTEN UP to WKNC 88.1 this week, because we’ve got giveaways right now for every single one of these shows. You should be listening right now.

Below is the list of shows. Read up and get down as you listen to The Revolution, waiting to see if you can win tickets to your show!

6/11 Live Nation presents The Decemberists w/ Best Coast @ The Raleigh Amphitheater

5/25 The Morning After @ Pinhook (Durham)

5/26 Corrosion of Conformity @ Cat’s Cradle (Carrboro)

5/26 Beggars (w/ Colossus and White Tiger and the Bed of Roses) @ Casbah (Durham)

5/27 Dance Music for Nerds @ Pinhook

5/27 Caltrop @ Kings Barcade (Raleigh)

5/28 Americans in France album release party @ Kings Barcade

5/28 Jews & Catholics @ Pinhook

5/28 Red Collar @ Casbah

5/29 Dangerous Ponies @ Pinhook

5/29 Grace Potter & The Nocturnals @ Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh)

This past Thursday served as the end of March (and, hopefully, the cold). It also served as the second show WKNC has presented at the still-pretty-newly-reopened Kings in downtown Raleigh (the first being this year’s Double Barrel Benefit).

UK-via-Italy act Banjo or Freakout opened the show with a set of airy songs not too far removed in style from Papercuts. Backed by a drummer and bassist/guitarist, main man Alessio Natalizia worked his way through a set of songs culled largely from his recently released, self-titled full-length debut. The first half of the set saw the trio playing songs full of interesting arrangements, with Natalizia’s echo-laden, airy vocals up front. Unfortunately, the remainder of the set saw the band work their way through a handful of interchangeable standard-indie-rock songs that lacked the charm of the first half. That said, it’ll be interesting to see where Natalizia takes Banjo or Freakout‘s sound.

Jason Quever, the main force behind Papercuts, brought along a full band to flesh out his dreamy songs, reminiscent of a male-fronted Beach House meets The Clientele. Touring behind the release of new album Fading Brigade, one of the best releases of 2011 so far, Quever and his band brought the songs to life with the sort of laid-back energy found on the recordings. The small, but appreciative, crowd swayed along to the effortless grooves of songs like “Do What You Will” and “Chills,” cheering the band back out for a brief, but well-received, encore.

They are delicious and they are going FAST! (only you don’t have to pay for them… )

This week at WKNC we have some amazing giveaways we are pretty excited about. We’ve also got something AMAZING coming next week, so stay tuned (literally). Or become our friend on facebook to find out NOW.

4/6 Black Lips @ Cat’s Cradle

Bronzed Chorus @ Pinhook

4/7 Destroyer @ Cat’s Cradle

Merge Record's Destroyer is coming to Cat's Cradle! (photo courtesy of Matt Karp)

Surf City @ Kings

Movie: Hanna @ Mission Valley Cinema

4/8 Fridays on the Lawn: Midtown Dickens and Butterflies @ Harris Field (Just kidding, you can’t win tickets… its FREE for everyone!)

Midtown Dickens and Butterflies will be putting on a free performance on NC State's Campus April 8th. Come on out! (Photo from benuski)

4/9 Dr. Dog @ Cat’s Cradle

We are honored to offer you, our devoted listeners, tickets to see Dr. Dog at Cat's Cradle April 9th. (Photo from pupkin, under Creative Commons)

Rotting Christ (Chainsaw) @ Volume 11

4/13 The Greenhornes @ Kings

Cincinatti based garage rock band, The Greenhornes, will be playing at Kings on 4/13. Photo made available by Alexandre Hervaud under Creative Commons.

Remember, you have to listen to win!

It has been quite some time since A Rooster for the Masses put out a new album, but the popular local group is doing just that on April 15 at Kings Barcade when they release their third and newest LP No One Is Ready. Still upbeat with a touch of disco and an air of reggae, ARFTM has certainly kept the same vibe with this record as their past discs, and that is a wonderful thing.  Founding member Adam Eckhardt and myself shared a brief 30 minute conversation where he reflected on the history of the band and its current state as well as the new album. We also listened to several new tracks including “No One Is Ready,” “Make Much Sense,” “At The Gates,” and “Die By Day.” Give it a listen below:

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The doors open at 9 p.m. and the show starts at 10 p.m. Greensboro-based Decoration Ghost and Raleigh favorites River City Ransom are also playing. Tickets are $6 online and $8 at the door.

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Darren Hanlon. Photo courtesy of Bradley's Almanac, under creative commons.

Papercuts will be performing at Kings in downtown Raleigh with Banjo or Freakout. Photo courtesy of Oliver Lopena, under Creative Commons.

4/2: Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Cat’s Cradle
and S. Carey (of Bon Iver) @ Kings
4/3: Warpaint @ Kings

This Sunday, March 27, a quartet of musicians from the North Carolina Symphony will take the stage at Kings Barcade in downtown Raleigh to create an entirely new artistic experience for the Triangle community. Three local artists will be creating visual responses to the music performed and it’s all free and sponsored by WCPE 89.7fm, TheClassicalStation.org.  It will be a casual afternoon of accessible performance art including a silent auction of the artwork created.

“What is most amazing is the way all of the pieces have come together,”  Tara Lynn says, WCPE Community & Arts Liaison and host of WCPE’s ‘Allegro.’ “The artists, musicians and local businesses involved were all so excited to help us realize this extraordinary event.” Jerry’s Artarama, an art supply store with its headquarters in Raleigh, donated supplies for each of the artist’s unique needs.

Karen Strittmatter Galvin, Assistant Concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony and a member of the quartet says, “I’m very excited about being a part of Conversational Pieces. Stepping out of the concert hall to perform in a more casual environment gives a new perspective to not just the musicians performing the music, but also the listeners watching how musicians go about their jobs. Even more exciting will be to see how the artists participate in the music-making! I hope this event is the catalyst for even more collaboration between Raleigh artists of all genres.”

The members of the quartet are: Karen Strittmatter Galvin, violin; Maria Evola, violin; Carrie Fischer, viola; and Lisa Shaughnessy, cello.

“Don’t believe the headlines about the decline of classical music,” WCPE’s Tara Lynn adds. “Young people like classical music but we need to present it in a relevant way.”

The artists featured at this event are:

Pete Sack is an artist who takes existing photographs, whether they are from old yearbooks or magazines, and creates a new narrative with paint. He extracts the image from the original content to give a new, personal meaning. A native of Seattle, he moved to NC to attend ECU’s art school and has lived in Raleigh for the past 10 years. Sack currently has a show hanging in the Mahler gallery. Opening on April 1, The Raleigh City Museum will showcase his work as well. The museum’s first one-man show will feature Sack’s paintings inspired by the Raleigh City Museum’s photo archives. More of his work can be found at http://petesack.com.

David Eichenberger is a Raleigh native who is well known for his paintings of “lovable monsters.” Some of his most noteworthy shows include the Dinosaur Show at DesignBox, and Generation Gap (2008). His artwork was chosen for Pacific Designs Indie Artists Collection. David was recently the artist-in-residency at Artspace and was featured in the Roanoke Island Festival Park’s Art Gallery this fall. Explore his portfolio at http://david-eichenberger.carbonmade.com/.

Georges Le Chevallier was born in France and grew up in Puerto Rico. He studied painting at the “Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando” in Madrid, received his BFA degree in Drawing and Painting from California State University in Long Beach and his MFA degree in Painting from Hunter College in New York City. Not only his paintings, photographic works and public art installations have been exhibited extensively nationally and internationally in distinguished galleries and museums, but Le Chevallier has also over 10 years of teaching experience at the university level, and has curated many successful art exhibitions. View more artwork at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Georges-Le-Chevallier-Art/27699491658 and http://www.glcart.com/home.html.

*Portions of this article including the artist bios were taken from a press release issued by WCPE Community & Arts Liaison Tara, Wake Forest, N.C. (March 23, 2011).

We’ve got a handful of giveaways for you, our avid listener. Listen online or on your dial.

Call in on our studio lines when the DJ asks for it and you could win these tickets:

Elephant 6, photo courtesy of Leigh, is playing a SOLD OUT show at King's

Vetiver is a folk rock band from San Francisco, CA

J Roddy Walston, photo courtesy of Matt Karp,

The Cave Singers, photo courtesy of Redheadwalking, are a band formed after the break up of Pretty Girls Make Graves

“Thursday is the new Friday,” proclaimed front man Sam Herring as he watched the sea of hands surge upward. The first night of Future Islands’ Raleigh performances had begun. The hype was building earlier as the shirtless front man and drummer of Ed Schrader’s Music Beat screamed into the microphone as he rapped his drum. A ghoulish low angle light illuminated his body, yet the tactic seemed appropriate and fitting. Islands’ entrance was quick, but their deliverance was timely.

Future Islands (Thrill Jockey Press Photo)

Dressed in more formal attire (which Herring seemed to slowly rid himself of as the night progressed), they delivered crowd favorites like  “Tin Man” and “Long Flight” which were played back to back. Both tracks are off of Future Islands’ sophomore release “In Evening Air.” The Baltimore band also showcased some new tracks which I suspect are part of a rapidly approaching album release.  Herring’s usual stage facial expressions seemed surprising less theatrical Thursday night. I did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that the band was holding back for their second night. Fellow WKNC DJ The Mensch commented on the evening’s performance:  “Having never heard Future Islands in concert I wasn’t entirely sure of what to except.  Through, hearsay I knew they were amazing live from the chitchat around the studio… It’s safe to say that this was one of the best, if not the best concert I have ever seen in the Triangle.”

The warm weather got you wanting to get out of the house? Spring Break plans fall through?
Let us provide you with some options.

Be the right caller and you could win!

This week at WKNC, we have the following giveaways:

3/1: Marnie Stern @ Kings

Marnie Stern, courtesy of mercurialn

3/2 Leon Russel @ Lincoln Theatre

Check out Leon Russell, 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of fame inductee, photo courtsey of Archman8

3/3 Future Islands @ Kings

3/4 Dance Music for Nerds @ The Pinhook

Superchunk @ Cat’s Cradle

Fintroll @ Volume 11

3/5 Redress Raleigh Benefit featuring I Was Totally Destroying It and Bright Young Things @ Kings

3/6 Justin Robinson @ The Pinhook

Ty Segall @ Kings

Yelawolf @ Cat’s Cradle

Remember, you have to listen win!

Oh, and while you’re winning free tickets to great show, remember to vote WKNC best in College Radio as according to MTVu. Vote often, vote much.

Lack of plans this week? Great. WKNC has a giveaway for an event almost every day! Listen in throughout the week and when the deejay asks for it, be the correct caller and win a fabulous prize!

This week in giveaways:

2/22: Future Birds w/Filthy Bird @ Kings Barcade
2/23: Neil Hamburger (comedian) @ Kings Barcade

2/24: Pietasters @ Cat’s Cradle
2/26: Steep Canyon Rangers @ Lincoln Theatre

2/26:  Birds of Avalon @ Kings Barcade
2/27: Get Up Kids! @ Cat’s Cradle
3/1: Marnie Stern @ Kings Barcade
3/4: Superchunk @ Cat’s Cradle

Chainsaw: Finntroll @ Vol 11
Movies:
2/21 – ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ @ 10:30pm @ Campus Cinemas
2/23 – ‘Hall Pass’ @ North Hills 14