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!

Last week on the Local Beat was a lot of fun, as we had two bands in the studio for 2.5 hours of good conversation. Maria Albani, bass player of Schooner, came in to chat about her new solo project Organos at 5 p.m which is having a debut album release for the brand new EP, Limbs, this Friday at the Pinhook in Durham (it is already getting airplay on Satellite Radio).  Organos is an interesting band in which Maria plays an assortment of unorthodox instruments such as spoons, glass, cardboard, boxes, shaker eggs, and sticks among other interesting sounds to create a unique yet immensely satisfying minimalist folk rock sound.  On the album Maria performed most of the parts herself but live Organos is a whole different animal.   A mini local super group of sorts, Organos live claims the likes of Reid Johnson (Schooner), Wes Phillips (solo, North Elementary, Rosebuds), Theresa Phillips (North Elementary), Nathan White (Nathan Oliver), and John Harris0n (Nathan Oliver, North Elementary), not to mention Maria herself.  In our conversation Maria, Theresa, and I chatted about the album, the band members, the show, and also her past bands which include Pleasant, Tennis and the Mennonites, Un Deux Trois, & The Pox Family Singers.  Listen to the podcast below:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Organos is playing at the Pinhook this Friday, February 5 alongside Birds and Arrows and Ye Old Shoppe (with members of Wild Wild Geese).  The show is at 9:30 p.m., and you get a free copy of the album with price of admission!

At 6 p.m., local bluegrass favorites The Hotwires stepped in to chat about an assortment of different topics, but mostly to encourage our listeners to head to the Haiti Relief Benefit show at the Pour House Thursday, February 4th.   The Hotwires are playing in the middle of the show after Andy Bilinski, Roger Gupton, and the Debonzo Brothers, and before Chatham County Line, Filthybird, and A Rooster For The Masses.  The show is $12 and all proceeds are going to the Red Cross in support of Haiti Relief efforts.  The fellas and I spent quite a bit of time chatting about bluegrass as a genre, the history of bluegrass, as well as their upcoming album which is hopefully going to be released at some point this spring.   We even got a little touchy when talking about their old band name, No Strings Attached.  They also brought in some instruments and played some live tunes for me.  Check out the reverbnation player below to listen to the songs or listen to the entire podcast:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I also interviewed Hank Smith for this past Monday’s Eye On the Triangle program here on WKNC about the benefit. You can listen to that segment here.

One Friday night, I decided it would be a great idea to completely shave my head.  The next day, North Elementary happened to sessions@KNC.  The following aerial shot gives a great view of my shiny bald glory.  Oh, yeah, and the band too.

So seriously, as a result of a day properly divided between music-making and skater-heckling, you all have the chance to download three new North Elementary Tunes and one old one.  I highly recommend you do, because they rock.  If you’re a geek like me, listen to Chad’s drums in the slow part of “Lose Your Favorite Things.” Great Drums + Caldwell Lounge = incredible sound.

Right now, North Elementary is in the studio cutting tracks for a new album, so keep an eye out for another release!

Also, I’ll shout a huge thanks to Mikey, Liz, and Matt for showing up and volunteering good chunks of their Saturdays.

Here’s a brand new tune from North Elementary called “Midwest Bug”:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And here are the four individually zipped songs, free for you to download!

Lose Your Favorite Things

Murder by Memory

War for Kicks

Midwest Bug

If you have never listened to the 5 o’clock Shadow with DJs May Day and Spaceman Spiff, put it on today’s to-do list. After sitting down with Proof and Lonnie Walker in recent weeks, today’s special guests are I Was Totally Destroying It. The DBB6 alumni will be performing with North Elementary as part of WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band tonight at Tir Na Nog.

You know the story.  Local music die hard, and WXYC alum,  Cy Rawls, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in June of 2008.  Unable to pay his mounting medical bills, bands and friends from all over North Carolina, Virginia, and the US pitched in to throw some of the most amazing concerts, film viewings, and even bake sales, with all benefits attributed to a fund which paid for Cy’s medical bills.  Unfortunately, at just the age of 33, on October 3, 2008, Cy passed away at Duke Medical Center.

Thankfully, it did not end there.  Enter CyTunes, a nonprofit music download site that “features exclusive music from artists who have contributed tracks (both live and in-studio) to help raise money for cancer research in memory of Cy Rawls.”  There are 44 bands and artists in all (as of today) which include:

ALL PROCEEDS from CyTunes go to Tisch Brain Tumor Center, where Cy was a patient.  Please support this amazing organization, the bands that contribute to it, and the memory of Cy Rawls.

For more information, feel free to read these excellent articles by the Independent Weekly, and this write-up by Pitchfork.