Mike Dillon of Gross Ghost - Photo Credit: Agatha Donkar

Double Barrel Benefit 9 is coming up this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4, and oh my is it going to be something wonderful.  Filled with an eclectic mix of local talent spanned across two nights, The Pour House is going to be housing one of the finest locally-grown lineups of the year,  including The Kingsbury Manx, The Future Kings of Nowhere, Organos, MAKE and more.  Night Two in particular boats some of the Triangle’s most exciting and swiftly rising bands, especially Gross Ghost.

Gross Ghost is a four-piece band based out of Chapel Hill with a mesmerizing sound.  While the instrumentation is usually full of driving rhythms that are tinged with surf-punk vibes, the vocal melodies are infectious and perfectly contrast the fast-paced frenetic indie-punk soundscape.  Gross Ghost took the state by storm last year with two incredible EP’s, Lip City and Wicked Game, leaving fans anxiously awaiting their upcoming LP Brer Rabbit, which is to be released early this year.

Gross Ghost’s Grip Tapes label mate Heads on Sticks will also be playing Double Barrel Benefit on Saturday night, along with Naked Gods and The Kingsbury Manx.  Tickets for one night are $10 in advance while tickets for both nights are $15 in advance.  Under 21 is subject to a $5 cover charge.

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.

Wow, has it really been a month and a half since I posted the last Local Beat preview blog?  With the enormous amounts of schoolwork and two jobs (plus all the amazing local music concerts I have been going to) I have not had much time to give to blogging recently.  I hope you forgive me.

This week on the Local Beat we have a full lineup planned out.

Greg Humphreys is coming on the show for the first hour. It has been a very long time since Greg has been on the show and you might recognize his other bands Hobex and Dillon Fence. However, Greg has been a prolific solo artist as well with two solo albums, one live album, and one duo album with Gibb Droll since 2008. His newest album, Realign Your Mind, is a more studio-recorded album than his last release Trunk Songs. Greg and I will talk about the album and play some tunes which you have not yet heard on WKNC.

Greg is also playing some live shows coming up so be sure to check those out as well:

• Oct 6: The Casbah, Durham, NC
• Oct 7: Visualite Theatre, Charlotte, NC
• Oct 8:  Grey Eagle Tavern, Asheville, NC
• Oct 9-10: Shakori Hills Festival
• Oct 16: Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC

Songs of Water has released my favorite album of 2010 so far with their output The Sea Has Spoken.  Songs of Water is a eight-piece group out of Greensboro, NC, and their newest release is mostly beautiful, harmonious instrumentals the meld through worldly genres varying anywhere from Celtic, Oriental, Latin, Americana, blues, tribal, flamenco, bluegrass, and everything in between. Rich, deep, and powerful, it’s one of the most kickass local albums I have heard in some time, and I am happy to say they will all be cramming into our small studio to play some live tunes for us. If you are heading to Shakori Hills next week, be sure to check out this group as they play on October 7. Check out the great write-up they got on the Shakori Hills website:

From the woods of North Carolina comes Songs Of Water, an experimental musical fantasia based half in impressionism and half in realism. With a sound both ancient and modern, they dive into an ocean of exotic instruments to create their gorgeously contemplative instrumental vignettes. Utterly beautiful and meticulously presented, they draw deeply from the pool of World music including folk, Celtic, African, Middle Eastern, classical and jazz influences. Founded upon both composition and improvisation, no two performances are exactly alike.

A couple of the fellas and ladies from Minus Sound Research are coming in for the final hour of the show. Minus is an “art exhibition, now in its fifth year, featuring pieces from local North Carolina musicians. The artists will present their creative visions through sculpture, photography, drawings, serigraphy, woodwork and painting.” Some new artists in the exhibition this year include:

• Billy Sugarfix (Billy Sugarfix)
• Casey Cook (Americans in France)
• Wendy Spitzer (Felix Obelix)
• Mac McCaughn (Superchunk/Portastatic)
• Casey Burns (The Nein)

The exhibition is running through the entire month of October at the Carrboro Arts Center and will be featuring artwork from participating artists from past and present exhibitions. Including the artwork be sure to check out the live music at the center on October 8 and 9 featuring: Shark Quest, The Kingsbury Manx, The Moaners, North Elementary, Organos, Free Electric State, Americans in France, & Birds and Arrows.

As always the Local Beat starts at 5 p.m. and runs through 8 p.m. every Friday evening on WKNC.  Listen live here and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and ReverbNation!

The Music In The Gardens summer concert series at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham is returning this year with another stacked lineup. Highlights include Camera Obscura, a Lonnie Walker/Mount Moriah double bill, Bowerbirds, Kooley High, Kingsbury Manx, Max Indian, and Billy Sugarfix (performing as Billy Sugarfix Carousel which, coming from him, probably means something pretty neat). Most shows occur each Wednesday and are $10 for the public, $5 for Duke students and employees, and children 12 and under get in free. You can get more information on the series, including dates, times, and ticket info, here.

Full schedule:
5/26 Annuals
6/2 Camera Obscura
6/9 Lonnie Walker, Mount Moriah
6/16 Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz
6/23 Bowerbirds
6/29 Samantha Crain
7/7 Kooley High
7/14 Kingsbury Manx
7/21 Max Indian
7/28 Billy Sugarfix Carousel
8/4 Mallarmé Chamber Players (at Kirby Horton Hall)
8/11 Ciompi Quartet (at Kirby Horton Hall)

The Independent Weekly announced the line-up for its first Hopscotch Music Festival today.  The festival will take place in downtown Raleigh on September 9, 10 and 11 2010. Headlining the festival are Public Enemy, Panda Bear and Broken Social Scene. A plethora of local favorites will be playing as well.

Here’s a list of the bands scheduled to play the festival, with more to be released April 12:

9th Wonder & Friends, Active Child, All Tiny Creatures, American Aquarium, Americans in France, Atlas Sound, Balmorhea, Bear in Heaven, Best Coast, Birds of Avalon, Black Congo NC, DJ George Brazil, Broken Social Scene, Brutal Knights, Richard Buckner, Burning Star Core, Cannabis Corpse, Caitlin Cary’s Small Ponds with Tres Chicas, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Cults, Greg Davis, Double Dagger, Double Negative, The Dynamite Brothers, EAR PWR, ExMonkeys, First Rate People, Followed by Static, Ben Frost, Fucked Up, Future Islands, Golden Boys, The Golden Filter, Goner, Gray Young, Ryan Gustafson, Hammer No More the Fingers, Harlem, Harvey Milk, Horseback, John Howie Jr. & The Rosewood Bluff, I Was Totally Destroying It, Javelin, Jeb Bishop Trio, Juan Huevos, Kill the Noise, The Kingsbury Manx, Kooley High, Kylesa, The Light Pines, Lonnie Walker, The Love Language, Lucero, Luego, Max Indian, Erin McKeown, Megafaun, Midtown Dickens, The Moaners, The Monologue Bombs, Motor Skills, Mountains, Jon Mueller, Marissa Nadler, No Age, Ocean, Old Bricks, Panda Bear, Pattern Is Movement, Pictureplane, Plague, Pontiak, Public Enemy, The Rosebuds, Schooner, Sightings, spcl gst, Spider Bags, Thien, Tigercity, Tortoise, Treasure Fingers, US Christmas, Sharon Van Etten, Veelee, Vincent Black Shadow, War on Drugs, Washed Out, Weedeater, Whatever Brains, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Yip-Yip.

Tickets go on sale April 1. For more information, check out this article from the Independent Weekly.

Here are the top 30 records at WKNC for last week, compiled by Daytime Music Director Jenna St. Pierre:

1. Technicolor Health by Harlem Shakes
2. Three Sides by Veelee
3. Eating Us by Black Moth Super Rainbow
4. Actor by St. Vincent
5. American Folklore by American Folklore
6. Ascenseur Ouvert by Kingsbury Manx
7. Kingdom Of Rust by Doves
8. Inside Your Guitar by It Hugs Back
9. Power Move by Screaming Females
10. Telekinesis by Telekinesis
11. Pretzelvania by Americans in France
12. Manners by Passion Pit
13. Walking On A Dream by Empire of the Sun
14. These Times Old Times by Lonnie Walker
15. Oh Tall Tree In The Ear by Roman Candle
16. Set Em Wild, Set Em Free by Akron/Family
17. The First Time by Embarrassing Fruits
18. To Lose My Life by White Lies
19. Fantasies by Metric
20. It’s Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
21. Welcome To Mali by Amadou and Mariam
22. The Love Language by The Love Language
23. Suckers [EP] by Suckers
24. Devotion Implosion by Gliss
25. Pilgrim by Red Collar
26. Jupiter by Starfucker
27. Seven Days Now by Xu Xu Fang
28. Bunny Gets Paid by Red Red Meat
29. Bromst by Dan Deacon
30. Hazards Of Love by Decemberists

Here are some new albums we’ve added to our library, which you can look forward to hearing:
Veckatimist by Grizzly Bear
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix

The Kingsbury Manx has a brand new music video for their song “Well, Whatever” off of their latest release “Ascenseur Ouvert!”   I can’t embed it for some reason so check it out on Odessa Records website here.

I’m definitely digging this.

Here are the top 30 records at WKNC for this week, compiled by Daytime Music Director Jenna St. Pierre:

1. Telekinesis! by Telekinesis
2. Ascenseur Ouvert by Kingsbury Manx
3. To Lose My Life by White Lies
4. The First Time by Embarrassing Fruits
5. Inside Your Guitar by It Hugs Back
6. Technicolor Health by Harlem Shakes
7. Power Move by Screaming Females
8. Pretzelvania by Americans in France
9. Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun
10. The Love Language by The Love Language LOVE LANGUAGE
11. (A)spera by Mirah
12. Set Em Wild, Set Em Free by Akron/Family
13. Everybody Come Outside by Pomegranates
14. It’s Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. Devotion Implosion by Gliss
16. Romanian Names by John Vanderslice
17. Fantasies by Metric
18. Jupiter by Starfucker
19. Mama, I’m Swollen by Cursive
20. Seven Days Now by Xu Xu Fang
21. Bromst by Dan Deacon
22. Bunny Gets Paid by Red Red Meat
23. Welcome To Mali by Amadou and Mariam
24. Looking For Bruce by Hammer No More The Fingers
25. Mouthful Of Bees by Mouthful of Bees
26. Hazards Of Love by Decemberists
27. Suckers [EP] by Suckers
28. Outside Love by Pink Mountaintops
29. Kid Moves by Kinetic Stereokids
30. Cold Warrior by Grandchildren

Here are some new albums we’ve added to our library, which you can look forward to hearing:
These Times Old Times by Lonnie Walker
Pilgrim by Red Collar
American Folklore by American Folklore

Wow, what a day.  We started off the Local Beat with an interview and in-studio performance by one of my favorite bands around, Bombadil.  They played previously unreleased “Kate and Kelsey” and were also kind enough to let us spin a few tracks off of their yet-to-be-released album, Tarpits and Canyonlands (see video below)
.

We talked about the imminent loss of Stuart, Daniel’s injured hand, the NC State Brickyard preachers, and how none of these things will stop the momentum that Bombadil has with new album to be released soon.

Lastly, they provided a hint as to their concert garb for the evening (see pictures below).  Check out the interview.

Bombadil performing in WKNC studio 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

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As Bombadil was leaving the studio, we were shuffling Double Barrel Benefit 6 band Lost in the Trees (2/13 of them, anyway) into the studio.  They also played a previously unreleased track called “A Church that Fits our Needs,” a stunningly beautiful song with, as we noted, a touch of folk.  We also talked about their upcoming date at the Shakori Hills Festival and some work the band is doing in schools (promoting rock, or pop, or whatever it should be called). Finally, we talked about the band’s next album, which should be released sometime this fall (check the Trekky Records website for more info).  They also spoke a little about the show that night at the Lincoln Theatre.

Check out the Lost in the Trees interview below.

Lost in the Trees performing in WKNC Studio 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

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The lineup for that show was as follows:

Lost in the Trees

Benji Hughes (who put on just about the drunkest, most hilarious act I’ve seen in a while)

Bombadil

Our last guest of the evening was Ryan Richardson of the Kingsbury Manx, who joined us by phone.  We talked about the band’s label, Odessa Records (owned and managed by band member Paul Finn).  Odessa was having its “label release” party at Cat’s Cradle that night, which included all 3 bands on the label:

Americans in France

Impossible Arms

Kingsbury Manx

Check out the interview below.

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Check out the pictures from the Lincoln Theatre show below and visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/not_a_photographer/ for more of the same.

Lost in the Trees at the Lincoln Theatre 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

Benji Hughes at the Lincoln Theatre 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

Benji Hughes napping on the Lincoln Theatre stage, c/o Mike Gray

Bombadil Harmonizing at the Lincoln Theatre 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

Bombadil performing "Cavaliers Har Hum" at the Lincoln Theatre 4/10, c/o Mike Gray

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Enjoy!

1    AMADOU AND MARIAM    Welcome To Mali    (Nonesuch)
2    TELEKINESIS     Telekinesis!    (Merge)
3    MIRAH    (A)spera    (K)
4    WHITE LIES    To Lose My Life    (Interscope)
5    SOFT TAGS    Blue House    (Self-Released)
6    BURNING HEARTS    Aboa Sleeping    (Shelflife)
7    AMERICANS IN FRANCE     Pretzelvania    (ODESSA)
8    KINETIC STEREOKIDS    Kid Moves    (Overdraft)
9    POMEGRANATES    Everybody Come Outside    (Lujo)
10    GRANDCHILDREN     Cold Warrior    (Self-Released)
11    DEAD HEART BLOOM    In Chains    (KEI)
12    YEAH YEAH YEAHS    It’s Blitz    (Interscope)
13    IT HUGS BACK    Inside Your Guitar    (4AD)
14    GRAY YOUNG    Firmament
15    HAMMER NO MORE THE FINGERS     Looking For Bruce    (Churchkey)
16    DAN DEACON    Bromst    (Carpark)
17    OBITS    I Blame You    (SUB POP)
18    THOUGHTS    Consider The Bear    (Brass Tax Collective)
19    MAX INDIAN    You Can Go Anywhere, Do Anything    (Self-Released)
20    SHOLI    Sholi    (Quarterstick)
21    BEN KWELLER    Changing Horses    (ATO Records)
22    LOVE LANGUAGE    The Love Language    (Bladen County)
23    SUPERCHUNK    Leaves In The Gutter [EP]    (Merge)
24    RED RED MEAT    Bunny Gets Paid    (SUB POP)
25    ROBYN HITCHCOCK AND THE VENUS 3    Goodnight Oslo    (Yep Roc)
26    HANDSOME FURS    Face Control    (Sub Pop)
27    ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND    Elvis Perkins In Dearland    (XL)
28    VEILS    Sun Gangs    (Rough Trade)
29    GLISS    Devotion Implosion    (Rykodisc)
30    THIEVES LIKE US    Play Music    (Shelflife

Radio Adds:
1    SCREAMING FEMALES    Power Move    (Don Giovanni)
2    KINGSBURY MANX    Ascenseur Ouvert!   (ODESSA)
3    HARLEM SHAKES    Technicolor Health    (Gigantic)
4    METRIC   Fantasies (Self Released)

Word up.

So I’ve been busy / lazy this week, and this post is about 24 hours overdue.

But either way, we have a hell of a show for you tonight:

At 5:00, Bombadil will be in studio, with instruments.

Lost in the Trees will be joining us after that.

At 6:15, we’ll have the Kingsbury Manx on for a phone interview.

And, as usual, we’ll be going over some of the (amazing) shows on tap for this weekend.

Tune in at 88.1 FM or online!