WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student RadioPJ Sykes of Hoax Hunters swung by the Hopscotch live broadcast table to talk a bit about balancing being in a rock band with being a rock photographer, the Richmond scene, and defending the architectural quality of his favorite building in Richmond. The band rocked the Negative Fun Day Party at Legends later that week.
Next, Michaela has a special report on the new voting registration laws taking effect soon in North Carolina. If you’re not sure whether or not it affects you, have a listen.
Nick Savage and the EOT crew bring you another edition of “Eye on the Triangle,” live each Tuesday at 7 p.m. on WKNC 88.1 FM and wknc.org/listen and available as a downloadable podcast.
The background behind Father/Daughter Records is literally all in the name of the company; a father and daughter who joined forces to contribute to the greater good that is the music industry.
Being out of San Francisco, what brought Father/Daughter Records to the Hopscotch Music Festival is their signed bands that played at the festival this year: Mutual Benefit (Played at Vintage 21) & Gems (Played at CAM).
Jessie (the daughter in Father/Daughter Records) was nice enough to sit down with us for a little bit to give us some insight as to what she does and how she really appreciates what the Raleigh/Triangle is doing for the music scene.
This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to see Hiss Golden Messenger, whose latest album Lateness of Dancers is perhaps one of my favorite albums of 2014.
Opening the show was Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, who I saw perform seven days prior at Hopscotch to an attentive audience at Fletcher Theatre. Opening a cappella with “Maria’s Gone,” a song made famous by Jean Ritchie, Sauser-Monnig had the audience at full attention like a mountain storyteller telling tales of bygone days. One of my favorite tunes she played at Hopscotch also made the Cat’s Cradle setlist, Eddy Arnold’s “Cattle Call,” a song about driving the western ranges. Her quiet, folksy rendition could put you out in the old west as much as Arnold’s original.
The second opener was a Philly folk-rock band, Strand of Oaks, who I had heard of on the radio back home in NJ, but hadn’t delved too much into their music until seeing their show. The project of singer-songwriter, Timothy Showalter, there was plenty of guitar shredding and drum breaks to be had, which took the audience from captivated listeners to really active participants, with people in the crowd dancing and head bobbing from the front to the back of the venue.
The two openers really got the crowd pumped for Hiss Golden Messenger’s homecoming concert. When M.C. Taylor and his band started, they had the whole crowd moving from the gate with “Red Rose Nantahala” and moved right into “Saturday’s Song” from Lateness of Dancers. Towards the middle of the set, Sauser-Monnig came out to join in with “Day O Day,” along with a number of other tunes from the latest album. The whole band, consisting of Scott Hirsch on bass, Matt McCaughan on drums, William Tyler on guitar, Terry Lonergan on sax and guitar, and Phil Cook on keys, guitar, and banjo, put on an awesome show as they played though songs from Hiss Golden Messenger’s different albums. Phil Cook played a stellar, Duane Allman-esque, slide guitar solo on “Lucia” to wrap things up, at least before the encore.They came back out and finished with two songs, the final being a hard rocking, sax heavy rendition of “Call Him Daylight”, quite different then the acoustic rendition I was familiar with from WKNC’s Lounge session.
From what I had heard of Hiss Golden Messenger’s shows in the past, they are never to be missed and always excellent, and I can finally confirm those words are indeed the truth.
-DJ CJ
Jodi Burns and Tim Nolan joined me at Hopscotch Music Festival during WKNC’s live stream from Wristband City to talk about the journey of Judy Barnes and their self-described live performances full of “sad songs with jokes in between.”
Hailing from Winston-Salem, NC, Judy Barnes is a musical group with a unique approach to their artistry. Like any true opera-inspired rock and roll band, all members of the group bring their own musical talents and experiences to create captivating tracks. Since 2000, Jodi Burns (vocals, piano) has been creating and exploring concepts that now constitute the repertory of Judy Barnes today. Expect rich harmonies, pulsating instrumentals, and angelic vocals composed in pure symphonic drama.
Jodi Burns and Tim Nolan joined me at Hopscotch Music Festival during WKNC’s live stream from Wristband City to talk about the journey of Judy Barnes and their self-described live performances full of “sad songs with jokes in between.”
Karl Kuehn, known across the N.C. music scene as front man/drummer of Museum Mouth and “almost rapper” OK McQueen, recently released new material under his new project, Family Bike. The duo stopped by Wristband City for a quick interview on the eve of their debut show at the Negative Fun Records Day Party.