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!

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

Everyone seems to have had their say about the show at the Pour House Music Hall last Friday, which featured Annuals with support from Gray Young and Bright Young Things.  I was there and it rocked.

(Seriously, check Cabbage’s review of the show as well as Karen Mann’s always excellent coverage.)

But let’s not forget the 2/11 Local Beer, Local Band show at Tir Na Nog that featured Bright Young Things with support from Luego and Naked Gods (straight outta Boone).

And let’s not forget the three interviews in one hour preceding that show.  That’s right, I shuffled all three of these bands in and out of the studio.  Better yet, Bright Young Things played a Jayhawks-inspired version of their own “She Left You Dreaming.”  Luego followed with Patrick’s solo version of “Run Away” that will be on their album Ocho, to be released later this year.

Check the interview below — the catch is that you have to sift through to my voice to catch the live songs. But they’re worth it!  Enjoy.

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(But wait, there’s more! Free Bright Young Things music at Bandcamp!)

This thursday, Febuary 18, is another installment of Tir Na Nog and WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band night. The show is Free and doors open at 10 p.m. Thursday night’s line-up consists of a solo performace from Stuart of The Love Language followed by The Proclivities and finishing off the night will be North Elementary.

As always, Tir Na Nog will have a fine selection of local beers on tap. For more information about this show and future Local Beer Local Band nights, check out www.Tnnirishpub.com.

Hope to see you there!

Gonna be in town over the winter break? Entertaning guests? Wondering what to fill all that free time with?

Go with live music, of course!

Below are my  recommendations for shows between December 17 to January 11 (N.C. State’s Winter Break)

December 17:

Who: Sea Legs & Old Bricks

Where: WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band atTir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh

I must say it, these are actually two of my favorite local bands. Both bands are new to the scene but I predict they will have quite a name for themselves by this time next year. Catch um while their new so you can be the cool guy who knew them when they were the little people.

December 18:

Who: Fin Fang Foom, Free Electric State, Gray Young

Where: Pinhook in Durham

If you haven’t yet been to the Pinhook, this is your excuse. Not only is it one of my favorite places to drink, they have a killer patio, these local bands are all worth seeing.

December 19:

Who: Holiday Honky Tonk and Burlesque Show

Where: Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Say whhhat? I get to see The Whiskey Smugglers, The Pneurotics and Gambling the Muse all while Miss Mary Wanna puts on a burlesque performance…. I’m sold.

December 20:

Where: Nightlight in Chapel Hill

What: Nightlight Holiday Craft Fair from 2 to 6 p.m.

Okay, so it’s not music. Think of it this way though, its local art and any local art that is presented to me will get a moment of my time. Stop by, especially if you haven’t checked everyone off your shopping list yet.

December 21 to 24:

It’s my birthday week so I would love to celebrate with some tunes! Unfortunately, the world seems to shut down around these dates, I’m not sure why. If YOU want to serenade me happy birthday feel free to find me at one of these shows!

The Cave in Chapel Hill is holding an all day open swap December 22 and 23. You can buy and trade your doodads. Sounds like fun!

December 25:

Where: The Pour House in Raleigh

You can celebrate Christmas day along with Terry Anderson, who will be celebrating his birthday as well. He brings his band, The Olympic Ass Kicking Team to the Pour House. You know there isn’t much to do after the family is done opening gifts and eating food so bring them to sing along!

December 26:

What: The Merch Holiday Party

Where: Local 506 in Chapel Hill

The Merch is a local screen printing and design business whose logos are plastered all over the triangle. They are huge supporters of local music and we love that!  Not sure what the night entails but it should be something great! The party starts at 10pm

December 31st:

Downtown Raleigh

First Night Raleigh

Ring in the new year right! Surround yourself with the amazingness this town has to offer. First Night is offering performances by The African American Dance Ensemble, Crucial Fiya and the Annuals (plus a million other amazing things to see and do). While your downtown don’t forget to stop by Slims to see A Rooster for the Masses.

OR

New Years Eve Party at Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, The Love Language and the Dirty Little Heaters share the stage to help you ring in the new year!

January 1:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  there isn’t much going on this week so make sure to rest up for next week because it is jam-packed with shows to witness!

January 6

Where: The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh

Who: The Ex-Monkeys are spinnin in downtown Raleigh this night. Great to see if you’re in the mood for a different kind of electronic music to dance too.

January 7

Where: Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh

IT BEGINS! RALEIGH UNDERCOVER STARTS TONIGHT!!

This a weekend all local music lovers should look forward too! Your favorite bands will cover the bands that have inspired them. Last years performances  included Valient Thorr covering Parliament Funkadelic, Hearts and Daggers covering The Beastie Boys and Embarrassing Fruits as Pavement. Make sure to be there for at least one night this weekend!

January 8:

Where: The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh

Who: Your favorite local artists Lonnie Walker, Megafaun and The Rosebuds are all joining together to put on one amazing show. The night will be a prom theme and fun for everyone! If you can’t make it out on the 8th, no worries, Megafaun and The Rosebuds will be performing again, same place same time, only this time the amazing Hammer No More the Fingers will be joining them.

January 9:

Where: The Nightlight in Chapel Hill

Who: Midtown Dickens takes the stage with Joe Romeo and the Orange County Volunteers. Midtown Dickens is a group that consistently keeps a smile on my face. They are a joy to watch and with this year’s release of Lanterns, you wont be let down.

Also right down the street North Elementary will be playing at The Local 506. A classic local group that is worth the short walk!

That is it for now!

The new year seems to be starting out well here in the Triangle!

WKNC has once again partnered with the NCSU Paintball Club (NCSUPBC) for their annual Toys For Tots Donation Drive.

During the first week of December for the last two years, the NCSUPBC has hit the NC State Brickyard to accept toy donations and raise funds for Toys For Tots.

This year the group has added to its partnership the Alpha Chi Sigma Professional Chemistry Fraternity and Ragazzi’s of Cary. Returning to the partnership is Tir Na Nog Irish Pub & Restaurant and Local Beer, Local Band.

With added partners, the NCSUPBC is looking to bring holiday joy to more children by raising more than $1,500 in toy and monetary donations.

Local Beer Local Band

This Thursday, November 19, is Tir Na Nog and WKNC Local Beer Local Band Night. This week’s show features music from bands Hank Sinatra and Hearts & Daggers. The show starts at 10 p.m.  No charge at the door, so come in and enjoy a  local beer along with some Rock n Roll!

Hank Sinatra will be in the studio with me at 7 p.m. Thursday here at WKNC.  Stay tuned all you Hank Sinatra fans, its going to be a good one.

Hope to see you there!

Tonight, Tir Na Nog’s Local Beer Local Band night  features music  from  bands The Bleeding Hearts, Static Minds, and The Infamous Sugar.

The Bleeding Hearts are, in my opinion, killer! If you like the sound of late 1970s rock with a touch of punk, this band will surely be a favorite.  Static Minds,  a very fun high energy rock and roll band, will keep everyone on their feet. Also look to be entertained by The Infamous Sugar, a  one man band who I just can’t compare anything to.

I’ll be Interviewing Bleeding Hearts 7 p.m. Thursday, so be sure to tune in.

Doors open at 10 p.m. Come and enjoy a great free show and some local brew.

Thursday, October 22 is WKNC and Tir Na Nog’s Local Beer Local Band Night, which is part of this week’s Cherry Bounce Music Festival.  This week, bands Free Electric State, The Poles, and Gross Ghost are here to rock! Free Electric State is no stranger to Local Beer Local Band. Just two months ago they put on a show with fellow local musicians, A Rooster For The Masses. If you missed them last time around, thank Chris at Tir Na Nog for booking them again and with two well suited bands for a night full of rock and roll.

This is a FREE SHOW!!! Doors open at 10 p.m. Come and enjoy a great selection of local beer.

This Thursday, October 15 at WKNC and Tir Na Nog’s Local Beer Local Band night, bands Bronzed Chorus and Antartic Sounds will take the stage. Doors are open at 10 p.m.

This week’s show should be a good one — if you haven’t heard Bronzed Chorus live, this is one show definitely worth attending. Tir Na Nog is always on point with their wide selection of awesome local beers on tap.  If you love local music and local beer, this is a no brainer.  Stay tuned to 88.1 FM to hear more about the show, and possible interviews. Hope to see everyone there!

There are always lots of awesome shows going on in the Triangle, but October seems to be just stuffed full of them. Below is a limited preview of some of the hippest, hottest acts to catch this month.

WKNC gets a lot of praise for our weekly Local Beer Local Band series at Tir Na Nog, but a good chunk of the credit belongs to Chris Tamplin. Help thank Chris for putting up with us Thursday, Oct. 1 as Local Beer Local Band doubles as Chris’s Birthday Local Band Bash. Prabir and The Substitutes and Goner are on the bill and rumor has it there may be a magician.

The much anticipated Hear Here finale show is Saturday, Oct. 3 at The Pour House. Motorskills opens, followed by Inflowential and The Love Language. Tickets are not available in advance so be sure to get there when doors open at 8 p.m. Once inside $5 will get you a copy of the Hear Here CD; there are less than 90 shopping days before Christmas so feel free to stock up.

St. Vincent was one of the hottest groups on 88.1 this summer. They open for Andrew Bird Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8. at the Cat’s Cradle. Both nights are sold out. If you aren’t one of the lucky ticket holders, personal favorites Everclear play Oct. 8 at the Lincoln Theatre.

Saturday, Oct. 10 is I Was Totally Destroying It’s release party for Horror Vacui at the Cat’s Cradle. The $7 advance and $10 door prices include a copy of the CD. If that isn’t enough to get you there, how about supporting bands Lonnie Walker, Des Ark, Rat Jackson and Lake Inferior?

Baltimore-based J. Roddy Walston and the Business is one of those bands you love as though they were native sons. Mike Roy joins them for their CD release party Wednesday, Oct. 14 at The Pour House.

Berkley Café hosts Lonnie Walker, Goner and Gray Young on Friday, Oct. 16. Try not to rock so hard you miss Luego’s CD release party Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Local 506. The Tomahawks and The Huguenots will be there too.

Raleigh’s Cherry Bounce Music Festival starts Sunday, Oct. 18 and runs throughout the week at various local venues. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the line-up, but I can tell you to tune in to Local Lunch on Thursday to find out more.

Experimental prog rockers The Mars Volta invade the Disco Rodeo on Friday, Oct. 23. They’ll be in Charlotte the day before if you’re a really big fan.

A bunch of KNC staff saw Charlotte’s Benji Hughes in April and they’re still talking about it. See him for yourself as he performs with The Light Pines Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Local 506.

Fridays on the Lawn continue Friday, Oct. 30 with Max Indian and Schooner. It’s a totally free show on Harris Field, right in front of our radio home in the Witherspoon Student Center (corner of Cates Ave and Dan Allen Drive) at N.C. State. WKNC and the Union Activities Board put on the show with support from Student Government and the Inter-residence Council.

Check out WKNC’s Rock Report for more shows and feel free to leave comments about who’s on your to see list for October.

Dry Heathens will start the night out with a friendly reminder that whiskey and rock and roll still go hand in hand. Then to end the night, Chapel Hill’s own Future Kings of Nowhere will excite you with there angst driven acousticore.

Thursday at 7 p.m. you can get a preview of what to expect on 88.1 FM. I will be playing some new Future Kings songs, and rockin’ faces with some Dry Heathens.

Hope to see you there!

This Thursday at Tir Na Nog is the Sparkcon Kickoff show. Sparkcon is
a annual DIY festival that showcases Raleigh’s top artists. This show
has a great local lineup: Starmount, Aminal Music, The Jackets and
Bright Young Things. Starmount is a psychedelic, down-tempo, four
piece band headed by Greg Elkin, who has produced albums for many well
known local artists (including Goner- YEAH!). Aminal and The Jackets
will bless the stage with a heavy dose of Americana-Indie rock
followed by Bright Young Things, which will crush you with its pop
sensibility.

This event will also provide local beer tasting from Foothills beer, a
Winston Salem brewery.

Tune in Thursday at 7  p.m. for an interview with Bright Young Things.

Listen to Mystery Roach, Saturday September 12 from 8-10am on WKNC for a discussion with Aly Khalifa and Mary Ellis, two minds behind SPARKcon.   Aly is one of five “bobbleheads” that facilitate the event.  He, along with four others work with the organizers of each individual SPARK to help ideas become reality.  Mary is is the lead organizer of MusicSPARK, the musical aspect of the festival.  MusicSPARK will feature a large, diverse group of  94 Local Bands in 15 Raleigh Venues.

In all, SPARKcon will include more than 1200 performers from gaming to dancing to street painting to poetry reading.  Check the full schedule for details.

IdeaSPARK will kick off SPARKcon Thursday night at 6:00pm at the Marbles Kids Museum with
Pecha Kucha, a rapid fire presentation of ideas where each presenter has 6 minutes and 40 seconds to communicate their SPARK using 20 slides and discussion.  After that, head down to The Pour House, where WKNC will be hosting Local Beer Local Band as part of MusicSPARK.  The show will feature local acts: Bright Young Things, Animals, The Jackets, and Starmount.

Talk to you Saturday morning, and see you at SPARKcon.

-La Barba Rossa

New Raleigh has beaten us to the punch announcing this month’s Local Beer Local Band, but we are just excited as everyone else.  This could possibly be the best month’s lineup yet, and features three extra dates not on Thursday!  Check it out:

Wednesday, September 2- The American Princes with Magic Mike (FREE)

Thursday, September 3- Max Indian & Mount Weather (FREE)

Saturday, September 5- Lonnie Walker with Americans in France & Anti-Bubble ($5 cover)

Thursday, September 10- The T’s & Embarrassing Fruits (FREE)

Saturday, September 12- Rollergirl after party featuring Red Collar, I Was Totally Destroying It, The Demon Beat, & Pink Flag ($5 cover)

Thursday, September 17- Sparkcon kick off featuring Bright Young Things, The Jackets, Aminal, & Starmount ($5 cover)

Thursday, September 24- Future Kings of Nowhere & Dry Heathens (FREE)

Every week WKNC interviews our Local Beer Local Band bands, so be sure to check back to the blog for dates and times of live, on-air, interviews.

Also, don’t forget that every week the Hear Here compilation will be on sale at Tir Na Nog!