Filthybird

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Chatham County Line

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Joe Romanos

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Wesley Wolfe

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North Elementary

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Small Ponds

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Birds and Arrows
Birds and Arrows started off the festival in Central Park Thursday night, November 4. Unfortunately, it was very cold and rainy, which might have deterred some of the listeners, but once Andrea starting singing, I completely forget about the numbness in my toes. This is the fourth time I’ve seen them in eight months, and I’m more and more in love with them every time I see them. She has a commanding, beautiful presence, and always dresses to impress. John, the cellist, adds a perfectly enriching texture to the married duo. My favorite part of this group, however, is the fact that Pete, drummer and husband, sings the higher harmony, and Andrea sings the base melody.

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Mosadi Music
I had never heard of this group, but they definitely impressed me. I always enjoy bands that mix up genres, like The Beast, and this one mixed it up even better with the lead voice as a female rapper. The background instrumentalists played chill rhythms while she got the crowd hyped up with her fast-paced lyrics.

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Veelee
I was quite excited to see these guys. This girl/guy duo definitely took me by surprise. I wasn’t able to stick around for their whole set so that I could run off to see Midtown Dickens, but what I saw had me bouncing around. I loved watching a female rock out on drums, and I had me captivated with his duo guitar/piano playing.

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Midtown Dickens
I’ve been a longtime fan of Midtown Dickens, but this was my first time seeing them live, and man was it worth the wait! I had already been there for five hours, but they made my night worth it. The two females have such unique voices with incredible stage presence that makes them unforgettable. They had a wide array of instruments: acoustic guitar, drums, mandolin, upright bass, banjo, clarinet, accordion, and (my favorite) hand saw. And the best part, after just about every song, they all would change instruments.

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Last night, Friday November 6, was the second night of three for Troika Music Festival in Durham, NC. As of this moment, I have watched and photographed 11 bands, and tonight I’ll photograph 6 or 7 more. It’s been an incredible journey for me thus far. First of all, I’ve never driven in downtown Durham, let alone in the dark and in the rain. So the musical rewards were that much more delicious after I circled miles of blocks countless times.

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I’ve been blown away by the epic sounds of Old Bricks in the tiny space of The Pinhook. They radiated so much joyous energy for the creation of music, I have a feeling they forgot we were all standing there listening. I don’t typically like bands that are more noise-based and less lyrical, but they touched a part of my soul.

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Later, I sat on the stage next to Django Haskins of The Old Ceremony as he played acoustic guitar standing on the top of a chair because the sound system gave out, and he wanted to make sure everyone could here and see. He entranced the entire audience with his raw voice, honest lyrics,  and witty jokes, mostly making fun of himself. He has a list of over a hundred songs that he was sporadically picking from, and he shared with us the back story to The Old Ceremony most recent release, Wither on the Vines, and he sang a song that he wrote for a girl-rock band in New York.

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I was introduced to a new band that had my calves sore I was bouncing around so much. Onward, Soldier has one of the most talented groups of local musicians I’ve probably seen. The lead singer, Sean, has a soft face with an innocent air, but he plays and sings with such intensity, you’d think he was 6’6. I expect the drum to fall through the stage he was rockin’ so hard, and the second guitar ripped with fingers of gold. There’s no better way to instill love in an audience than to show your own love in the making of music. They had so much energy, such happiness, I was completely taken by their performance.

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But out of the eleven bands I have thus far seen, nothing can compare to the performance of Mandolin Orange. The male/female duo step onto the stage of Fullsteam Brewery with a fiddle, two guitars, and a mandolin. Their presence truly speaks to the power of music that has nothing to do with sound or technique. They made me believe them. I believed in the beauty of the fiddle and the simplistic elegance of an acoustic guitar. I believed that two vocal harmonies singing just the right words could transform a room into a sanctuary. Andrew has a calming presence with long curly hair, but his voice resonates with a deep, slightly twangy serenity. Emily is infallibly beautiful, but nothing in comparison to her radiance while holding a fiddle. This is the duo to watch, and I know I’ll be looking out for their next show.

I will be perfectly happy if I never listen to another band from outside of North Carolina. This state is overflowing with talent in every genre, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.

This coming Friday on the Local Beat I am dedicating two hours of the show to Troika Music Festival.  Of course by the time the interview airs the festival will be well underway since it is beginning tonight.  Melissa Thomas and Stuart Horne came in to pre-record the interview with me earlier in the week and I felt that it was important to share our conversation before Friday evening and before Troika begins.  Among many things we chatted about the history of the event, compared it to Hopscotch, and discussed what is going on differently in this years festival.  Give it a listen below:

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Troika on Twitter

Troika on Facebook

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Friday evening on the Local Beat will be one you surely do not want to miss.

The first hour of the program Chapel Hill band the Light Pines are coming on to talk with us about a plethora of topics as we promote their First Friday  show at Tir na Nog alongside 12000 Armies and Nudehues.  The Light Pines are almost finished with their debut 10 track album and we will talk about that in plenty.  Also stick around and listen as we chat about their connections with the Love Language and their future touring plans.

From 6pm-8pm I am dedicating two hours to the Troika Music Festival in downtown Durham.  Melissa Thomas and Stuart Horne dropped by earlier in the week to pre-record the two hour interview and it was rather entertaining.  You can go ahead and listen to that interview here, but you can only listen to the Troika bands during the airing of the interview!

As always, the Local Beat is every Friday evening from 5pm-8pm right here on WKNC.  You can also listen online here.  Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and ReverbNation!

It’s been one of those weeks.

But tonight! It is the first night of three of Troika Music Festival. And I, the WKNC Photographer, will be there all three nights! I’m totally in love with local bands, and this weekend will have some of my favorites. So keep a look out over the weekend and next week for photos of great local bands!

For 3 days, from November 4-6, Durham comes alive with music and art. Troika Music Festival began in 2002 and is still going strong. Bands featured this year include Birds & Arrows, Veelee, Old Bricks, I Was Totally Destroying It, Red Collar, The Small Ponds, Americans in France, Phil Cook and His Feat, Chatham County Line, Mount Moriah, Gray Young, Spider Bags, and even more! They’ll be performing at venues around Durham and WKNC has 3-day festival passes to give away!

Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it now through November 3, and you could win a pair of 3-day festival passes!

Courtesy troikamusicfestival.org

Max Indian

If you were to categorize bands based on how long they’ve been around, Max Indian would be a toddler, I guess.  To continue the metaphor, they would be a toddler who paints excellent watercolors, reads Machiavelli, and tutors eighth graders on the weekends.

The band’s sole release, “You Can Go Anywhere You Can Do Anything,” dropped in December of 2008 , and everyone who has had the good fortune of hearing it has been pining for more ever since.

After releasing the record — themselves,  mind you — the band beat a path around the triangle that included a live performance on The State of Things, a headlining night  during the Troika Music Festival , a headlining night at N.C .State’s Fridays on the Lawn Concert Series, and a number of  live shows that left a trail of satisfied and eager fans in its wake.

Solicit the opinion of anyone who has seen Max Indian, heard one of their songs, or even heard someone else talk about them, and the response is always the same. These exceedingly catchy, down to earth, warm, and rusty compositions will work their way into your inner ear, buy a nice piece of land,  and set up shop.  Don’t worry, though. The freshness doesn’t wear off, the melodies are top notch, and the lyrics will stick.

Max Indian will take the stage for night one of Double Barrel Benefit 7 on Friday, February 5 at The Pour House following The Light Pines,Veelee, and Bellafea. Say WHAT? If you miss this, well, I guess you think you have a good reason, but I would seriously question your priorities my friends.

For the complete Double Barrel schedule and ticket information, click here.

Oh my girl punk.

Pistil, the three-piece indie pop-punk group based in Durham, NC, has graced Sessions@KNC and listeners with some brand spankin’ new tunes.  This music is definitely loud, in-your-face, and catchy so take a listen to “Greedy” just below!

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Pistil

Pistil played at Troika this past weekend and have two more shows coming up!  They will be playing at the Broad Street Cafe on Friday, December 4 as well as at The Pinhook on Thursday, January 7, so keep an eye out for these shows.

Lastly, of course, you are free to download the music from this session.  Look out for a couple funny lines in “Zombie” like “I got my socks on backwards” and “I wanna eat your brain!”  See individual zipped songs below!

Greedy.mp3

Mouse & Monster.mp3

Zombie.mp3

Romance Me.mp3

Good Man.mp3

Disclaimer: Despite my above statements, Pistil technically is not entirely a girl punk band because Ian, their drummer, is a man.

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The economic recession is definitely still on people’s minds, especially graduating students. But what about students who wanted to go into a sector that already had a reputation for not providing the best-paying job market out there — the nonprofit sector to be exact? We tried to answer some of those questions for you in our VIP segment. In Hear This, we brought you a special interview about a highly-anticipated music festival that will be host to so many bands, it’s literally impossible to go to hear all of them in the three days of performances. And in our Wolfpacker of the Week, we literally bring you “news from the Brickyard to your backyard,” where  a student explains his group’s attempt at raising money from all different kinds of avenues for a memorial of the beloved late women’s basketball coach Kay Yow.

NEWS:
This week, Evan and I gave listeners the weekly news update.

Information for the newscast was taken from the following articles:
Obama warns Karzai to focus on tackling corruption
U.S. backs Israel on preconditions
The Hague judges adjourn Karadzic trial to review boycott
Majority in N.C. favors public option
N.C. State students engineer electric car to inspire, win

To hear the full newscast:

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SPORTS:
Our weekly Wolfpack football update from our sports afficionados Tyler Everrett and Sean Klemm:

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For more on stats referenced, check out this story.

VIP:
This week’s VIP focused on the nonprofit sector during an economic recession and what students looking to go into that sector after graduation should keep in mind. Jacob spoke to Kelly Beck from 1304 Bikes, a Raleigh-based 501(c)3 to talk about her organization’s activities since the Bike co-op was shut down in June.  And he also spoke to Woody Catoe from the University Career Center about counselors advice to students looking for jobs within nonprofit organizations.

You can find more information on the University’s Institute for Nonprofit Research, Education and Engagement Web site or on  the N.C. Center for Nonprofits Web site.

For the full VIP segment:

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HEAR THIS:
In honor of the Troika Music Festival Nov. 5 – 7, we produced an extended Hear This segment for you this week. Mike Alston sat down with Kyle Miller, co-owner of Churchkey Records in Durham, to discuss what attendees can expect this year. The music festival was first started in 2002 as a one-day Durham musicians’ festival, put on by the Durham Association for Downtown Arts, Inc, and has since expanded to a three-day music festival for all Triangle musicians. Make sure the check out the festival line up, featuring many different bands from Bowerbirds to Caltrop to the ExMonkeys and many more!

To hear Mike’s interview:

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WOLFPACKER OF THE WEEK:
And finally, I sat down with our Wolfpacker of the Week, Jeffrey Johnson. Johnson is Student Senate’s Athletics Commission Chair and talked to us about the fundraising campaign for the Coach Kay Yow Memorial.

Listen to the segment to find out more about it and how you can help:

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E-mail us with thoughts, suggestions and complaints to publicaffairs@wknc.org!

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Only something so important and profound could bring me out of my food science/chemistry induced blogging slumber the day before a microbiology exam: Troika Music Festival.   Not only is this the biggest and baddest three- day long local music extravaganza in North Carolina but this is the best line-up they have ever had.  I just had to wet my paws on this one.

Troika this year is just not fair.  It’s not fair at the amount of awesome shows the will be happening and the amazing bands that will be playing each day.  It isn’t fair because there is only one of me.  I want to be at every show and hear every song by all the bands playing.  I hate you Bonnaroo Troika, yet, I love you.

Because I can’t be everywhere at once, I have mapped out the path I will try to take as I wind my way around downtown Durham to every show.   The weather might be a tad chilly but it should be nice enough to walk or ride your bike around downtown Durham and enjoy all the shows you can. This listing is just where I plan to be (subject to change). Feel free to modify my path and comment below.

Adam’s Top Troika Bands of 2009
1. Mount Moriah 2. Luego 3. Megafaun 4. Schooner 5. Caltrop 6. Pistil 7. All Your Science 8. Birds and Arrows 9. Future Islands 10. The Tender Fruit

Thursday Night
7 p.m.
Of course I will be starting off Troika as I did last year: Broadcasting on WKNC live from the Festival Kickoff in Durham Central Park.   The Beast is going on first, followed by Megafaun. If you don’t make this, you don’t like local music.

8:30 p.m.
After the Festival Kickoff this gives me plenty of time to walk on over to the Durham Performing Arts Center for one of my favorite up-and-coming band, Ghost Cats of the South.  This new folky sounding indie group from Durham caught my ears over the summer with their demo and I have yet to see them live, though I have yet to hear a bad thing.

9:45 p.m.
For the next hour I have to head over to the Pinhook for House of Fools and Aminal.  Aminal played LBLB a while back and wowed the audience as well as myself.  Plus, I have had their two EPs they put out earlier this year on constant rotation in my house.

10:45 p.m.
Since I saw Max Indian last Friday, and I saw Bowerbirds before its members left for Europe a couple of weeks ago I am going to drop back by the Duke Coffeehouse to catch the last two shows there for the night.  EAR PWR and Future Islands are two bands my feet have been craving recently. (I will make it up to The Moaners somehow).

Friday Night
If I didn’t have a radio gig (The Local Beat, people!) on Friday I would probably be heading to The West End Wine Bar from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for what could be one of the best shows of the night.  Tea and Tempests, Liza Kate, and Birds & Arrows back-to-back-to-back.  I’ll try not to think about what I am missing there for what should be a chilled-out good time, especially since I have not heard Tea and Tempests before.

8:45 p.m.
I saw the Huguenots fairly recently, otherwise I would be hitting them up at the Trotter Building.  Instead I am going to drop by The Pinhook to see The Scientific Superstar.  Probably one of the stranger groups in the area (they base their songs off of the comic books that go along with their albums) I have yet had the pleasure to see what they do in front of a crowd.

9:45 p.m.
Jews and Catholics are always a must for me when they play in Raleigh (which isn’t often enough) so I am sure to swing by Broad Street Cafe for the first time in ages. Depending on how far I mind walking, I also wouldn’t want to miss Brett Harris either who is playing at the same time at the Trotter Building.  Decisions, decisions…

10:15 p.m.
Assuming that my hearing is almost gone by this point, I may have to skip Caltrop, which is still ringing in my ears from the last time they melted my face off and stop by the Duke Coffeehouse instead for the Pneurotics.  Even though I interviewed them about their latest release, Second Skin, I have not had the time to see them live when they have played.  I can’t wait to hear the new songs in front of an audience that includes more than just me.

11 p.m.
I Was Totally Destroying it has been playing A LOT recently and  sounds tighter than ever.  Plus, I am always down to hear some more of their new tracks from Horror Vacui.

11:30 p.m.
My last show before I call it a night will be to see All Your Science who is playing late night at Bull McCabe’s.   I havn’t seen them since Troika last year when they completely won me over.  It’s been too long.

Saturday
Assuming that my beloved Wolfpack are not getting destroyed early by Maryland on Saturday it seems unlikely I will be leaving the game at Carter Finley early.  If I did however, I would NOT miss Mount Moriah (playing at 2:30 at the Trotter Building), possibly my favorite band in the Triangle right now.  You have got to hear them.

9 p.m.
The Bronzed Chorus put out one of my favorite albums of 2009 with I’m The Spring and I have never seen them live.  I hear they really put on a good live show though so I will be getting over to the Trotter Building first and foremost to watch them play Saturday evening.

9:45 p.m.
Once the Bronzed Chorus is done I will be sticking around to watch Maple Stave.  Though I would love to see Veronique Diabolique since I couldn’t make it to their show last weekend.  This could be a tossup.

10:30 p.m.
I just saw Schooner last Friday (who completely ruled) and I have seen them probably more than any band in North Carolina, so instead I will be going to Luego for the second time in as many weeks.   Luego is just one of those bands I cannot get enough of.

11:30 p.m.
The Butterflies are one of those bands I just have never been able to get around to seeing live.

12:15 a.m.
Pistil is by far the best band playing late on Saturday and one I havn’t been able to see in quite some time as well.  I will be ending my night at Bull McCabe’s once more to round off Troika.

For video footage of Troika bands, check out WRAL’s entertainment vlog.

The Troika Music Festival is a three-day music festival in Durham, NC and features several local bands. Attending is a great way to support the local scene!

Local bands on this year’s line-up include The Love Language, Bowerbirds, Dexter Romweber Duo, Birds of Avalon, The Moaners, Red Collar, Future Islands, Hamer No More The Fingers, Lonnie Walker, Embarrassing Fruits, Max Indian, and many more. For a complete list, check out the schedule!

New this year is “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, on Saturday, November 7, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., which features a unique market of art and handmade wears from local artists and crafters.

Come out to support the local music and arts scene November 5,6, & 7.