Come to this week’s lblb/pound pound/## to catch Goodbye, Titan, Minor Stars, and Monsonia!

Lots of fun stuff to do this week thanks to WKNC and Tir Na nOg and New Raleigh. First of all there is the awesome line-up, second, there will be awesome delicious local beer. In particular Craggie Brewing Company from Asheville, NC will be there with THREE beers to choose from:

Burning Barrel- a bourbon chipotle porter

Antebellum Ale- an 1840s North Carolina beer recipe

Cask of the Battery Hill- an English style rye ale

Can’t wait to get my hands on all of these. There is a different brewery at the pub every month on the second Thursday so be sure to mark your calendars! Oh, and the music. Goodbye, Titan is always a great band to see live. I haven’t seen Minor Stars yet but they’ve gotten awesome reviews in the Independent and a lot of other places, so I’m absolutely excited for that one. And Monsonia I’ve heard once through the door at the Nightlight. We didn’t feel like paying to get in (so used to free shows at Tir Na nOg , I guess) so I stood outside to listen, and I can tell you right now that they kind of sound like Arcade Fire.

As always it starts at 10 p.m., 21 and up, and FREE. See you there, friends.

This Thursday,New Raleigh, WKNC, and Tir Na nOg form into the trinity of awesomeness to bring you The Loners, The Huguenots, and Special Guests.

I have never NEVER been disappointed by a Loners show. Rock Duo. Plain and simple. ”The Loners have a unique history in the Raleigh music scene.  They can be considered the diamond in the rough (the rough being the closing of Kings Barcade in downtown Raleigh in the spring of 2007).  After reuniting to play the last show at Kings, the band decided to stay together because of the outpouring of support they receive from the show. ” – B Berry of WKNC

The Huguenots are “invitingly familiar, as warm and fuzzy as your favorite sweater or treasured vinyl crackling underneath a needle’s touch. Part of that familiarity comes from the band’s thirst for short, accessible, guitar-driven gems—the 3.5-minute pop song, naturally. The band’s quick bursts of energy give it plenty of charm. They’ve got tightly coiled energy to offer, too: A little like big city bands The Strokes and The Libertines, The Huguenots’ spring-loaded riffs and artful come-ons translate into well-played, sonic sloppiness that turns those pop sing-alongs into would-be riots.” —Kathy Justice of Independent Weekly

Also at the pub this Thursday is the brewer series. Held every Thursday, the Tir Na nOg Brewer Series features great  North Carolina craft beer, authentic music from the Triangle, and highlights other local businesses that makes Raleigh unique!

This month we’ve got Aviator Brewing Company to join us, along with Crumb Bakeryy, and there will be shirts from Apheele Creations.   Aviator will be releasing their Belgium Saison.  YUM.

WKNC and Tir Na nOg are happy to bring you this FREE, 21 and up event.  Meet the brewers at 9 p.m.  Music starts at 10 p.m.  Grab yourself a tasty local brew (they’re on special!) and enjoy some local live music.

In assistance with New Raleigh, this week WKNC and Tir Na nOg are proud to present The Big Picture, Gray Young, and Fan Mondine.

Remember all those promises I made to you the first week of the new year? Such as “more emphasis on beer”? Well we are kicking off the Brewer Series. The brewer series is a way that we can focus on the great craft beer that is created in North Carolina. On the second Thursday of each month a NC brewery is going to release a limited series or their seasonal draft. We are also working to feature other local businesses within our community. This month’s feature: Fullsteam Brewery’s Raleigh release of First Frost featuring hand-picked NC persimmons plus confections from South Durham Confection Company that will complement the brews.  As always, this is a FREE SHOW!! 21+

The Big Picture

One of the newer local bands, The Big Picture is absolutely a band to be reckoned with!  The band “Started up about two years ago between the Tunnell brothers (Johnny and Joah) The Big Picture remained completely unknown until [around May 2010]. Adding some new members to the band, Heather Tunnell, Nick Radford (Annuals), Leah Gibson (Lost in the Trees), and Alec Ferrell.” – DJ Caid

Gray Young

“Raleigh’s Gray Young (who, for the record, use vocals, but in a largely textural way) makes its anthems say a lot in very little time, and such careful editing and composition amps the intensity.” -The Independent

Fan Modine

Their myspace page says that their music sounds like “a train leaving a station.”  I like these guys.

Can’t wait for Thursday. I’m going to drink yummy First Frost and chow down on delicious savory biscuits from South Durham Confection Company and devour a $5 cheeseburger from the pub. I get mine medium rare with all vegetables possible, including carrots, and goat cheese.  Thanks New Raleigh, Fullsteam, and Tir Na nOg! See you soon!

**No interview this Thursday due to a Women’s Basketball game.  GO PACK!

“Oddsac makes Pink Floyd’s The Wall look like the [expletive] Brady Bunch,” Filmmaker Danny Perez says of his new film/visual album by the band Animal Collective. After debuting at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Oddsac makes its way to the Triangle on Friday night, April 23. Thanks to our friends at New Raleigh, WKNC 88.1 FM now has five pairs of tickets to give away to the 7 p.m. screening at the Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill. Listen to 88.1 FM or wknc.org between now and Friday afternoon for your chance to win. You can also up your odd(sac)s by entering New Raleigh’s drawing.

As if Facebook and Twitter status updates aren’t enough for most people, you can also update your Gmail status so people can know when you are eating lunch with your favorite Americana, Blues and Co. host or if you are working and don’t wish to be disturbed. About a month ago, our illustrious general manager announced “New Megafaun=AMAZING” to anyone he has ever emailed. It’s good to know he was right.

New Raleigh reports Durham-based Megafaun’s new release, “Gather, Form and Fly,” earned a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine. A live album from Jimi Hendrix Experience only had three and a half stars.

On a baseball-shortened (6pm – 8pm) Local Beat tomorrow (Friday the 3rd), we will be having Scott Phillips from Goner and Chris Jones from the Loners.

Goner and the Loners represent two of four bands that will be rocking Tir Na Nog Saturday night for the Brian Walsby Comic / Melvins CD Release party.  If you want more info, check here.

Flyer for Brian Walsby / Melvins Book & CD Release Party, c/o Double Negative's Myspace

We’ll be talking about the release party and local music in general.  If you have any questions to ask the bands, shoot them to me here or call in during the show at 919-515-2400 or 919-860-0881.

See you out on the airwaves!

Our friends at newraleigh.com gave the Dance Dance Revolution some love this week:

This Sunday I endured a long drive back from Atlanta at the end of the holiday weekend, and, serendipitously, I’d left my iPod in a friend’s car back in Cobb County, Georgia. So with no CD player, I cruised from station to station for six hours, suffering endless plays of “Heartless” and “Womanizer” in between classic rock and oldies. (Don’t judge; it’s all you can do through South Carolina to avoid Christian “rock” and pop country.) Then, on the last leg of the trip, scanning the stations outside Chapel Hill, my ears were suddenly greeted with a bit of bliss. “Finally!” I said to myself, then, “Of course!” as I looked at the dial. “This is 88.1 and I am listening to Dance Dance Revolution.”

Check out at the full article at New Raleigh