As last week and this week are excruciatingly busy for me (a couple of lab reports, 3 exams, homework, etc.), my blogging has no doubt unfortunately dropped off a little and I will be taking this week off. But fret not my readers, below is a nice listing of all of my favorite local music related blogs and Web sites that you can fill your time with. From newspapers to personal blogs, below should fill your appetite for all things local music and news related (I know I don’t have them all listed, so if you can think of any that I might have missed, please e-mail them to localmusic@wknc.org with a short description). I will see you back on the blogs next week!
Local Music Related Blogs/ Websites
Alt Music Chapel Hill
A Google group/forum in which all posts are generally geared to the alternative music scene in the area (catering much to our good friends WXDU and WXYC). You will find topics on shows in the area, musical equipment for sale, upcoming and past events, and nearly everything in between. Just another contribution from legendary Ross Grady.
Choose Local Music
This blog has been taking on the incredible task of trying to cover the entire local scene. It’s relatively new and just starting up with infrequent posts but has hopes to really do wonder for the music scene here in N.C. Contributors are Local Music Czar (Taintradio DJ and WKNC Alum) Steve Salevan, Red Collar’s Jason Kutchma, WSOE’s GM Ryan Sweeney and Kyle Miller.
Diversions & Dive Blog
Diversions is the well-done music section of UNC’s Daily Tarheel, and the Dive Blog is an offshoot of that that focuses almost solely on local music. Jordan Lawrence (section editor), Linnie Greene, Jamie Williams and Jonathan Pattishall, among others, contribute some fantastic album and show reviews, interviews and multimedia blog posts. Diversions is really on top of the scene.
The Hidden Places
Blog for DJ Stevo & Rachael of Taintradio’s The Hidden Places. Lots of hilarious posts that these two find interesting as well as podcasts from their show.
Loud, Local & Live
Infrequently updated local music blog featuring show reviews and concert updates.
Mann’s World
Karen Mann is one of the veterans of the local music scene. Her blog (which recently got a nice facelift) is filled with videos, pictures, concert updates, links, etc. Karen also does a couple of articles for New Raleigh from time to time and she updates almost daily with a lot of breaking information. A definite must-read.
Music.MyNC
One of my favorites that has also teamed up with WKNC’s Blog, Music.MyNC posts all of your up-to-date breaking news from North Carolina. The Web site is filled with multimedia-based blogs and even streams their live Sessions from NBC Studios over the Web. It is no doubt one of the most frequented and commented on blogs.
New Raleigh: Music
In addition to having a fantastic all-around news related Web site, New Raleigh also does a superb job of following the local music scene. Their blogs range from videos, to short informational posts, to interviews and show reviews. Updated a couple of times a day, you can stay on top of everything through this Web site.
NC Music Factory
A 35-acre campus in Charlotte that encompasses all parts of music and art entertainment in the area. Night clubs, art galleries, restaurants, etc.
NC Music History
A lovely blog dedicated to the history of N.C. music. The sheer volume of information on this Web site can be a tad overwhelming but stays entertaining and educational.
Oak Room
It hasn’t been updated since August 2oo7 but still is a good read for older stuff. Does anybody know anything about this Web site they would like to share?
On The Beat: David Menconi on Music
David Menconi is the music writer for the News & Observer. He frequently updates his personal blog with local and national music news, interesting music-related links, interviews and just about everything else. David has been on the scene for some time and has a great resource of knowledge about all of our favorite North Carolina artists.
Quick, Like A Bunny
Wow! Album and concert reviews galore. It’s never a boring read and I find that I have similar tastes.
Raleigh Indie Music Examiner
Justin Weber (also a blogger for Triangle Music) compiles links, articles, mp3s, stories and everything else you could want to read up on in the local music scene.
Raleigh Music
A really well done Web site about all of the music events going on in the capital city. Shows, news, stores, classifieds, etc. It’s all here.
Research Triangle Rock
David Oskardmay posting on WRAL 5’s Web site features all things local. It’s a different taste for the area as it does not soley focus on the indie/alternative scene but tries to hit them all. It is only updated about once a month but features nice interviews with local bands you might not know about.
Reverbnation
Reverbnation is a Durham-based music Web site that is popularized by its high quality music widgets and radio. It caters to venues, radio stations, fans but mostly musicians. Almost every local band and really EVERY band in the world has a Reverbnation page. You can also check out its recent Free Music Giveaway, which features some local hits.
Secret Carborro Ninja Patrol
Another one of my favorites that is written by the always entertaining Jeremy Blair. Always a good read about show and album reviews and lots of pictures.
Scan
Independent Weekly’s music blog is nothing short of awesome. With writers like Grayson Currin, Bryan Reed and Eric Tullis, among others, covering the scene with album reviews, concert updates and just local music news in general, you are bound to be in-the-know from reading this. And while it isn’t necessarily updated daily, you can also look into the Indy’s music section, which features articles from print.
Shuffle Magazine
Carolina’s music news from this FREE magazine that prints and posts their entire magazine online. It covers the entirety of North and South Carolina’s music scenes with on-the-point articles that you will enjoy.
Subdivision 67
A really collaborative Web site of some interesting local bands that play together frequently featuring: Beloved Binge, Sawtooth McTweedy, Scientific Superstar, Sequoya, Sugar in the Dirt and The Virgo 9.
Triangle Music
A well done and frequently updated blog with posts mainly geared towards who’s playing and coming to the Triangle for shows. This blog breaks plenty of stories and is on top of the scene and also features many photo and picture blogs. It also features a lot of downloadable material for its readers.
Triangle Rock
Ross Grady’s frequently updated music blog that features all of the best shows in the area for the week, as well as Facebook events for each concert, a weekly oggcast of Ross’ show on WXDU and some other cool gadgets. It’s one of the oldest and best done local Web sites out there.
WNnG
The blog for Bull City Records run by Chaz Martenstein. Features listings of new albums at the store as well as Chaz’s thoughts on new artists, albums, etc.
30Threads: Music
A Web site run by NBC 17 and local blogger Ginny Skalski, dedicated to pulling all as much local news to one spot as possible. The music threads might be few and far between, but feel free to submit and comment as much as you like!
Local Related Blogs/ Web sites (Not necessarily music related)
Bull City Rising
An awesome blog dedicated to Raleigh-Durham that touches on some hilarious topics as well as serious ones. Sports, politics and economy among others.
Bull In Full
Michael Bacon takes on as much of Durham as he possibly can with his posts that range from architecture, entertainment, food, culture and religion.
Endangered Durham
I stumbled across this blog a couple of months ago. It’s very similar to Goodnight Raleigh in that it focuses heavily on Durham’s past and current architecture. Many of the posts are generally just showing what Durham once was. Truly an eye opener. Also check out their massive list of links.
Ginny From The Blog
30Threads contributor Ginny Skalski blogs about everything. Really. Everything. Music, arts, business, politics, her personal life, EVERYTHING. It’s a great blog to follow for sure with a lot of insightful information.
GoGo Raleigh
A fantastic Web site on news in the Raleigh area. It does not cover music much but is certainly on top of businesses, events, public/government news, etc. Plenty of short updates every day.
Goodnight Raleigh
By far and away my favorite blog to visit, Goodnight Raleigh is known for their in-depth blogs about Raleigh history, culture and current events. All of the contributors do an astounding job of finding and researching interesting parts of Raleigh (from architecture to interesting/important people) and posting amazing photos all around.
Raleigh Connoisseur
A very well done blog dedicated to downtown Raleigh. A lot of insightful information from constructio to politics, to local business and everything in between.
Raleigh Philosophical Society
A surely entertaining opinion-based Web site dedicated to the discussion of all things Raleigh-related. I am personally new to discovering this Web site and cannot get enough of it.
Raleigh Weekend in Review
Local citizen “Elyse” has a weekly podcast where she reviews local bands, the venues where they play and local restaurants. Despite the name, she covers Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
30Threads
A Web site run by NBC 17 and local blogger Ginny Skalski, dedicated to pulling all as much local news to one spot as possible.
Local Newspapers
Cary News (Cary)
Chapel Hill News (Chapel Hill)
Daily Tar Heel (UNC)
Duke Chronicle (Duke)
Herald Sun (Durham)
Independent Weekly (Durham, Raleigh, & Chapel Hill)
New Raleigh (Raleigh)
News & Observer (North Carolina, National, & World)
Raleigh Downtowner/Chronicle (Raleigh)
Raleigh Public Record (Raleigh)
Technician (NC State)
Like to follow things on Twitter as well? Check out this blog post!
What am I missing? Send me an email to let me know! (localmusic@wknc.org)