The Local Beat last Friday was the first full three hour program since February and my first evening back behind the board in a month after throat surgery. I felt a little rusty behind the microphone but my guests to the show triumphed to make the three hours fly by with great conversation and some really cool new songs that had never been played before.
While waiting for the Trekky guys to come in, David Mueller of Birds of Avalon came by to drop off the pre-release of the Heads On Sticks album entitled Mocking Bird. Heads On Sticks is David’s solo project that he has been working with off and on for the better part of four years. In fact, his Marsupial’s EP was one of the first local albums I ever came across and really pushed me into the local music scene here. We debuted his first new track in two years, a song called “Two Clicks.” David will be back on the Local Beat on the 9th to talk more about the album, so be sure to listen in then!
Will Hackney and Martin Anderson, the owners and masterminds behind Trekky Records, dropped by a little late after being stuck in traffic to pump up the third annual TrkFest, which happened Saturday, June 26 at Piedmont Biofuels in Pittsboro, NC. We spent the majority of an hour and a half talking about the day-long festival, the differences between this year and the previous two years, playing music from bands signed to Trekky, and other bands involved with the show. Will and Martin are also in numerous bands in the area themselves and two of the busiest guys I know, so I had to ask them about their time management and how they run their business. In all, we had a fascinating insight into a remarkable record label and the guys behind the scenes. You can check out some of the pictures from TrkFest here.
TrkFest on the Local Beat 6/25/10
Local favorites Bombadil stopped by for the last hour of the show to debut some brand new material and play live for the first time in a year. As many of you know, Bombadil had to take a break last summer as pianist Stewart Robinson went back to school and Daniel Michalak had to take time to recover from a serious health problem, while James Phillips moved to Oregon and Bryan Rahija went to work in Washington D.C. However, the band has still made time to write music and admitted that they now have enough new material for an entire album. We discussed the difficulties with being so far apart and still trying to be a band and the frustrations with not being able to tour. We also touched on their most recent album, Tarpits and Canyonlands, which was released last summer. The band was unable to promote the record despite raving reviews, and I had to ask them how that made them feel. Despite the down turn in events, the group seemed exceptionally positive and upbeat for the future and even played two brand new songs for us, which you can download through our Local Beat ReverbNation page (you can listen to them in the music player to the left).
Bombadil on the Local Beat 6/25/10