Friday night I had the privilege of seeing three great acts at the Pour House. The night started off with a solo show by BJ Barham of American Aquarium. He played some of his own material as well as stripped down versions of songs by the band. One gentleman in the balcony took the opportunity between songs to heckle, and BJ quickly turned the tables. Several minutes of hilarious banter ensued and by the end of it, BJ had clearly conquered the room. Besides hilarity, the music was great, even if some of the lyrics were a bit worn.

BJ plays American Aquarium's "Katherine Belle"

Luego took the stage after BJ and played tunes from both their Taped-Together Stories album as well as their forthcoming Ocho album. The performance lacked some of the energy I had seen in previous Luego shows, but the sound was amazing and the new songs had just as much confidence and southern swagger as the older songs.

Luego plays "Getting Married" off their new album, Ocho.

During Luego, I also had the tremendous privilege of meeting Caitlin Cary. Caitlin was formerly a member of Whiskeytown with Ryan Adams and has now teamed up with The Proclivities front-man Matt Douglas to form Small Ponds. She still puts out great Americana, and she’s even sweeter in person than the thoughtfully romantic lyrics she belts out on-stage. Douglas still croons and swoons with the greatness of The Proclivities, but the new depth added by Caitlin and her violin made for an amazing ending to my Friday night.

Two great Raleigh-ites team up for amazing Americana

Another good show in store for you this week.

Gambling the Muse show flyer 6/12, courtesy of the band's Myspace page

At 5:00, we will be joined by self-described folk/Americana band Gambling the Muse of Carrboro will be in to talk about their show at The Cave on Saturday, June 13th.  They will be opening for Calico Haunts and Raised by Wolves.  They will also be performing a few songs live in studio, as well as bringing some unreleased tracks they recently recorded with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.
I was informed by Gambling the Muse that Calico Haunts is a “spacey, folk rock creation of Alex Inglehart, with backing contributions by Jenni Snyder (Whiskeytown, Neil Diamond Allstars), Wylie Pamplin (The Strugglers, The Physics of Meaning), Eric Haugen (The Strugglers), and Laura King (The Moaners).”
Raised by Wolves is from Charlotte and describe themselves as psychedelic/garage/ghettotech.

MS Benefit flyer

At 6:00, Zach Terry of The Whiskey Smugglers will be coming by to talk about a summer music series he’s co-organized to be held at the Open Eye Cafe of Carrboro.  Zach will be performing a few songs in studio and may be bringing some special guests, as well.  Check out some previews of the music you’ll be hearing, as well as the complete lineup for the summer series.

And of course, be sure to tune in as always on Friday at 5:00 at 88.1 FM or wknc.org/listen.