We have a wonderful show in store for you today (5/15) on the Local Beat.
At 5:00 Kim Gray and company will be coming in to talk about the Pick ‘n Bitch festival this Saturday at the Pinhook.
At the top of the 6:00 hour, Liza Kate of Holidays for Quince Records will be stopping by to talk about her upcoming album, Don’t Let the Dogs. The album release show is tonight at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill alongside Max Indian and Embarrassing Fruits. Then at 6:30, it will be the last time in 2009 that we will be preempted by NC State baseball.Be sure to tune in at 5:00 sharp on 88.1 fm or http://www.wknc.org/listen.
Well, what a pleasant surprise! Corbie and Mike of Battle Rockets stopped by and for a band whose songs feature no lyrics, they had quite a bit to say (full disclosure: their joke, not mine). They came in at the 5:00 hour and we talked about the show that night (with Gray Young and the Proclivities), their unique method of releasing demos and their brand new, homemade, $5 T-shirts. As for that show, see below for more.
The demo method is pretty cool, as you’ll hear in the clips below. The band records every practice and saves what sounds good. Then they burn a few copies of the most recent versions of tracks, date them, and label them–or have guest labelers do it, like our very own DJ Gray Matter. They then take their demos to shows and sell them for $1. That’s a deal you can’t beat.
Gray Young called the studio during the latter part of the Battle Rockets conversation to let us konw that they’d been locked in the stairwell and unable to get in. So we went and rescued them and brought them in for the second half of the interview. They dispelled the self-contrived rumours that they’re playing with U2 in October. We discussed both bands’ future plans, which include WE Fest. Check out the interview with the entire cast of characters.
Battle Rockets were entertaining and have quite a bit of energy, and it’s always fun to watch that level of energy coming from a two-piece. The Proclivities were–and have been for a little while–sans drummer, so they had D.A.R.Y.L. fill in and rocked out as a two-piece (a very dapper two-piece, might I add). Although the lack of a real drummer was sort of the elephant in the room (at the risk of using their song lyric), they were obviously having a good time, and so was I. Matt Douglas was chatting the crowd up as well, as per usual. Lastly, Gray Young took the stage around midnight. I must say, I’ve seen Gray Young several times over the past year or so, and every time I’ve seen them they’ve been exponentially tighter (and on this night, louder). It has been really fun to watch these guys as they play more shows together, and I can’t wait to see them again at the May 22 Lemming Malloy CD Release/Neckbeard Records Debut show at Local 506. That’s all for now, be sure to tune in to the Local Beat this week, details to follow in another blog post soon…
On this wonderful afternoon, a few short hours after Love Language does their thing with Mz Kelly, The Local Beat (as usual, the abbreviated summer version ) will commence.
This week, right at 5:00, we’re having the Battle Rockets come in to talk about their show tonight at Slim’s Downtown. Shortly thereafter (~5:30), our good friends Gray Young will come hang out, because they’re playing Slim’s tonight too (along with the Proclivities).
As you may recall, Gray Young graced us with their presence back on March 20th. It was then that they proliferated the rumour that they’ll be opening for U2 this fall, so we’ll be giving them the polygraph test this evening.
And we may just have a pair of tickets to give away for that show tonight…
The Wolfpack will then be taking on Carolina in baseball at 6:30, which means we’ll be getting the boot.
Summer is upon the students of NC State, which means some of us are graduating or going away ‘til the fall.
But don’t worry, Local Lunch will still be going strong all summer. We’ve gotten our hands on some awesome new releases from local favorites, and I personally look forward to exploring local hip hop and hard rock/metal acts.
So to all of us that call the Triangle home 365 days a year: Life doesn’t end in May and start up again in August, so why should our music?
If you get one of our DJs talking about music, be sure you have a lot of time on your hands – it will most likely be a long conversation.
But our listeners probably wouldn’t appreciate lengthy discussions of this type on the air, because that’s not what the station is for. You don’t tune in for talking, you tune in for music.
That’s the beauty of the WKNC Blog. Our DJs have an outlet to fill you in on everything to do with all of our formats – Daytime Rock, Local Music, Underground Hip-Hop, Chainsaw Rock and specialty shows, along with extras such as multimedia and promotions.
This blog is a relatively new project, and I, Emcee Luck, am serving as its first editor. I’m constantly on the hunt for new ideas for blog posts, and that’s where you, the readers come in.
Wow, what a day. We started off the Local Beat with an interview and in-studio performance by one of my favorite bands around, Bombadil. They played previously unreleased “Kate and Kelsey” and were also kind enough to let us spin a few tracks off of their yet-to-be-released album, Tarpits and Canyonlands (see video below) [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/3382352[/vimeo].
We talked about the imminent loss of Stuart, Daniel’s injured hand, the NC State Brickyard preachers, and how none of these things will stop the momentum that Bombadil has with new album to be released soon.
Lastly, they provided a hint as to their concert garb for the evening (see pictures below). Check out the interview.
As Bombadil was leaving the studio, we were shuffling Double Barrel Benefit 6 band Lost in the Trees (2/13 of them, anyway) into the studio. They also played a previously unreleased track called “A Church that Fits our Needs,” a stunningly beautiful song with, as we noted, a touch of folk. We also talked about their upcoming date at the Shakori Hills Festival and some work the band is doing in schools (promoting rock, or pop, or whatever it should be called). Finally, we talked about the band’s next album, which should be released sometime this fall (check the Trekky Records website for more info). They also spoke a little about the show that night at the Lincoln Theatre.
Our last guest of the evening was Ryan Richardson of the Kingsbury Manx, who joined us by phone. We talked about the band’s label, Odessa Records (owned and managed by band member Paul Finn). Odessa was having its “label release” party at Cat’s Cradle that night, which included all 3 bands on the label:
While it was a beautiful day in Raleigh, NC (and a perfect day for First Friday), the rain seemed to follow our baseball team all the way to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It’s been a rough year for the Pack, and the constant rain delays turned into double headers can’t have helped their focus or consistency.
While it might have been frustrating for baseball fans, it did mean that the Local Beat received an impromptu extra hour–back to the 5-8 timeblock! A little before the 6:00 hour, Brian Walsby, drummer of Double Negative and renowned comic artist, and Charles Cardello, co-founder of Bifocal Media, joined us in the studio. We talked a little bit about the Manchild 4 comic and Melvins CD release party. Walsby described Double Negative as a cross between Cat Stevens and Bread.
A little later on, Scott Phillips of Goner, Scott Williams (also of Double Negative) and Chris Jones (of The Loners) stopped in. We talked about party/show events as well as the growth of Raleigh as it relates to the cultural scene, and the unofficial pre-party dining location, The Remedy. But mostly, we chewed the fat.
With the $10 price of admission comes food, a copy of the 4th installment in Walsby’s Manchild comic series, and a previously unreleased Melvins CD entitled Pick Your Battles, which features live music from two shows: one in Berkeley, Ca, in 1989, and the other in Boston, Ma, in 2008.
After the crew left, we played “Automobiles,” a cut off of the new Hammer No More the Fingers album Looking for Bruce. They are releasing the album tonight at the Duke Coffeehouse alongside the Dry Heathens, the Future Kings of Nowhere, Deleted Scenes, and The Beast. This is all part of what they’re calling “Viking Storm.”
So whether you’re in Raleigh or Durham tonight, you have a pretty epic event to attend. Decisions, decisions.
On a baseball-shortened (6pm – 8pm) Local Beat tomorrow (Friday the 3rd), we will be having Scott Phillips from Goner and Chris Jones from the Loners.
Goner and the Loners represent two of four bands that will be rocking Tir Na Nog Saturday night for the Brian Walsby Comic / Melvins CD Release party.
We’ll be talking about the release party and local music in general. If you have any questions to ask the bands, shoot them to me or call in during the show at 919-515-2400 or 919-860-0881.
So on Friday night Adam from A Rooster for the Masses stopped by with special guest James of Baltimore-based Scary River.
The reason for the occasion? ARFTM was playing at the Pour House that night alongside Scary River and the Desmonds, and playing another show Saturday night at The Cave in Chapel Hill alongside Death to the Details.
We chatted for the better part of an hour about everything from South by Southwest, which Scary River was on its way back from, to songwriting inspiration. Oh, and Adam gave away a copy of “Broken Era,” the band’s recently-released album, to a lucky listener.
Check out the complete interview, in 3 parts, below. And be sure to tune in this Friday right around 6:00 (courtesy of NC State Baseball), as we will have Scott Phillips of Goner in, along with potentially some very exciting other guests!
