Category: Local Music

General coverage of local music happenings

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Local Music Music News and Interviews

October’s Local Artist of the Month: Schooner

Schooner have been one of North Carolina’s sleeper bands for far too long. Their 2007 full length debut Hold On Too Tight warranted heavy acclaim from critics and showcased the band’s sporadic indie pop stylings. Many would have imagined that Schooner would swiftly snowball into the state’s next powerhouse, however, songwriter Reid Johnson took some time off to re-evaluate his musical career and thus the band slowly began to dissipate from its original lineup. After receiving a lineup overhaul, Duck Kee Sessions in 2010 propelled the band to the national spotlight.

The band’s original lineup fell to the wayside, but this new roster clearly displayed a newly invigorated vision of Schooner. They were touted as one of Paste Magazine’s “Best of What’s Next” and even made their way down to South-By-Southwest after the heavy acclaim from Duck Kee. But with the release of Neighborhood Veins, the band’s latest full length, they’re prepared to bask in the spotlight that they’ve so patiently waited for.

Neighborhood Veins marks the first national release from local label PotLuck Records and it’s an excellent display of Schooner’s brilliance. It’s a collection of songs that range from fuzzed out pop gems to bleary-eyed folk-infused madness. By now Reid Johnson and the new lineup for Schooner have found their groove, they acknowledge their musical past while still looking boldly forward to the future. Neighborhood Veins’ closing track is a sprawling 12-minute adventure, something that one could have hardly imagined upon first glance from a band like Schooner.

After their bold step forward, you can expect Schooner to finally take their place as a North Carolina powerhouse amongst our brimming indie rock scene. That’s precisely why we’ve chosen Schooner as our Local Artist of the Month for October. You can check out their latest video for “Trap” below.  If you missed their interview and live performance, you can check it out and on our iTunes podcast!

http://schoonermusic.com
http://facebook.com/schoonermusic
http://twitter.com/schoonermusic

Categories
Local Music Music News and Interviews

In With The New–Carolina Grown Makes Its Debut

Beginning on Oct. 4, WKNC will be debuting a brand new local music talk show known as Carolina Grown. With the unfortunate departure of longtime DJ and host of The Local Beat, Adam Kincaid, now comes the time to expand on new horizons. Carolina Grown will follow a similar format, but will bring a fresh new spin to the local music scene.

Every Friday from 5:00-7:00 pm Carolina Grown will showcase some of the area’s finest local music. Hosted by Grant Golden, WKNC’s Local Music Director and founder of The Bottom String–a North Carolina music blog–Carolina Grown will bring in local musicians, label owners, journalists, community members and more. The goal of Carolina Grown is to shine light upon local artists and events that deserve recognition. North Carolina is a fantastic but crowded scene, thus some brilliant artists can get overlooked. Carolina Grown is here to bring these voices to the forefront by providing an outlet for these folks to share their message.

Be it art, music or any other variety of entertainment, we’re here for you. That means you as a listener, as an artist, as a promoter, as a venue owner or as a community member. Carolina Grown is here to serve as a soapbox for those with a message and as a reliable outlet for those interested in immersing themselves in their local community. WKNC has always been an integral part of the local scene and we’re always looking to give back to the community. We want you to be able to trust our voice, to see our stamp of approval and know that you’re about to hear something unique, sincere and most of all good.

Be it indie rock, folk, hip-hop, jazz or bluegrass, there’s always bound to be a music-maker catering to your tastes. It’s just a matter of finding them! But thankfully we’re here to do that for you. So tune into WKNC every Friday from 5-7 to soak in the sounds of your area’s finest musicians.

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Local Music Music News and Interviews

September’s Local Artist of the Month: Loamlands

While Loamlands may be a name that is new to us, Kym Register and Will Hackney are seasoned veterans of the Triangle music scene. Kym and Will were half of Midtown Dickens, the post-folk quartet that stole the hearts of everyone in the Triangle and had even begun garnering national attention from the likes of NPR. Midtown Dickens began as a DIY duo between Kym and Catherine Edgerton. Soon it began to grow into much more as Will and Jonathan Henderson joined the line-up. Midtown Dickens released three full-lengths that spanned an impressive eight year career. But as 2012 came to a close, the quartet began to see themselves going in different directions. In February, Midtown Dickens announced their indefinite hiatus and Loamlands was born.

The new duo immediately set to work constructing their debut EP Some Kind of Light due out September 24th on Trekky Records. In July, the duo set to work to record the EP with Brad Cook from Megafaun on the bass and Kyle Keegan from Lost in the Trees behind the drums. These five songs pull from a lot of the great talent surrounding them in this musical hotspot, but when put together create something entirely new. This EP is a promising glimpse at what is in store for this experienced duo. Be sure to tune into The Local Beat on September 20th for our exclusive Local Artist of the Month interview and live performance from Loamlands.

Check out their upcoming tour dates:
September 7th, The Pour House Music Hall, Trekky Records & Team Clermont present DAY-DREAM: Hopscotch Day Party
September 20th, The Pinhook, Loamlands EP Release with Hiss Golden Messenger and Miles Cooper Seaton

Listen to our Loamlands interview.

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Band/Artist Profile Local Music

August’s Local Artist of the Month: The Love Language

The Love Language

When you discuss Raleigh music or even North Carolina in general, it is impossible to avoid The Love Language.  They have become a staple of Raleigh music.  Now that they have continued to receive national attention from the likes of Pitchfork and Paste Magazine, they are representing Raleigh to the rest of the world, and they can’t offer a better representation of us.

The Love Language started as the bedroom recording project of Stuart McLamb after a rough breakup and being kicked out of his previous band, The Capulets.  The pop-smart songwriter and multi-instrumentalist set out to make music as a therapeutic excursion in 2008.  The demos made their way around and eventually ended up in the hands of The Rosebuds who invited him along to help kick off their Life Like tour.  Like that, The Love Language became a full-fledged band.

In March 2009, they released their self-titled debut to rave reviews.  They began to grow as their live shows became more renowned with performances at SXSW and Monolith Festival in addition to supporting tours for Cursive and The Rural Alberta Advantage.  Following these highly praised performances, The Love Language was signed to Merge Records.  Their second album Libraries was released in July of 2010 on Merge to even more widespread acclaim.

It has now been three years since The Love Language’s last release and despite its positive reception; those years have not been easy.  With a rotating cast of band members and an on again off again touring schedule, people began to wonder what would happen to The Love Language, but McLamb proved on his latest effort, Ruby Red, that The Love Language is still alive and kicking

Over the past 3 years, Stuart has been carefully crafting the songs for his third album, Ruby Red.  He again teamed up with BJ Burton for what turned into a long road to perfection.   Although the band has still maintained its infectious breed of emotionally-fueled pop, its latest effort is much more sonically experimental as it explores much larger spaces.  This time around they enlisted over 20 other musicians to fully flesh out the songs and fill every corner, and it shines through on this record.  Each song seems meticulously thought out and very carefully put together.  With the release of this new record and a string of strong tour dates ahead, The Love Language boldly state that they are here to stay.
Ruby Red
http://www.thelovelanguage.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thelovelanguage

 
You can check out their new music video for the song “Calm Down” featuring some WKNC DJs over at Pitchfork.TV.

 
Check out The Love Language’s upcoming tour dates here:
Aug 27 Nashville, TN – Stone Fox
Aug 28 St. Louis, MO – Firebird
Aug 29 Chicago, IL – Schuba’s
Aug 30 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
Aug 31 Kansas City, MO — Czar Bar w/ Schwervon
Sep 01 Omaha, NE — O’Leaver’s
Sep 02 Denver, CO – Hi Dive
Sep 03 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Sep 04 Boise, ID Neurolux ^
Sep 05 Portland, OR – MusicFest NW
Sep 06 Eugene, OR – Cozmic Pizza %
Sep 08 Seattle, WA – Neumos %
Sep 10 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw w/ Bleeding Rainbow
Sep 11 Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Bar
Sep 12 San Diego, CA — Soda Bar ^
Sep 13 Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock w/ Soft Metals
Sep 14 Tucson, AZ — Club Congress
Sep 16 Austin, TX – Mohawk – Inside ^
Sep 17 Dallas, TX – Club Dada
Sep 18 Houston, TX – Mango’s
Sep 19 New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
Sep 20 Atlanta, GA — Masquerade w/ Man Man
# w/ Eternal Summers
* w/ The Critters
% w/ The Dodos
^ w/ On An On

Categories
Band/Artist Profile Local Music

March’s Local Artist of the Month: Birds & Arrows

Birds and Arrows began back in 2007 as a husband and wife duo.  Andrea Connolly wielded the guitar as Pete commanded the drums.  On appearance, most people might have shrugged off the music.  With two people who are stuck together for better or worse, how much could their music really have to offer?  Their first batch of EPs easily dismissed these notions.  The instrumentation seemed to amount to so much more than just a couple on stage.  Their vocals complemented each other perfectly and made the music so much stronger than bands who enlist a whole army on stage.  In 2009, cellist Josh Starmer joined the line-up adding a whole other dimension to their already incredible sound.  His cello lines swimming in and out of the music along with their sweet, melodic voices.  Their calming breed of chamber indie-folk is an incredibly refreshing sound to fans of any type of music.

Since their inception, they have toured heavily throughout the Carolinas as well as several stints up and down the east coast. They have performed at several WKNC events including last year’s Double Barrel Benefit as well as Local Band Local Beer.  In their six years of existence, they have perfected their live show engaging a wide variety of audiences.  They make those who have no experience with folk music sway with their beautifully arranged music and their smooth, infectious melodies.  Their third full length Coyotes, is due out March 19th.  This album promises to be their best effort to date.  They recently released the music video for their first single “Firefly” from the upcoming album in Shuffle Magazine.  Be sure to check them out Thursday, March 14 at 6pm as we interview them live at WKNC for our Local Artist of the Month segment!

Categories
Local Music Music News and Interviews

February’s Local Artist of the Month: Baobab

This Durham-based musical project takes its name from one of the most intriguing and diverse trees in the world.  It is the national tree of Madagascar, and it is impossible to find two that are the same.  Much of the same could be said for Phil Torres.  His music is a very unique blend of folk, electronic, and world music.  His music is driven by acoustic guitar, a plethora of percussive noises, a splash of melodic electronic noises, and his vocals which seem to be an instrument of their own.  His self-titled debut was released last year and already it has taken much of the Triangle by hold.  It is incredible how one man could have written, performed, mixed, and mastered such a complex album on his own especially since it is his first effort.

Phil Torres, in addition to fronting Baobab, has a MS in neuroscience and spent a year as a visiting graduate student in the philosophy department at Harvard.  He has just published his first book entitled A Crisis of Faith: Atheism, Emerging Technologies and the Future of Humanity.  Whitney Trettien joins Torres on-stage for live shows.  She is a Ph.D. student in English at Duke University.  Despite their busy lives and amazing intellect, they still find time to wow us lesser mortals with their inspiring music.  They are a spectacle to see live as they loop guitars and synths over vocals complete with live drumming.  In addition to the music, Torres also makes some interesting videos to accompany some of his songs.

Baobab can be seen touring at various venues around the Triangle.  With a double album release party coming up on the 22nd with Virgins Family Band at the Local 506, we can look forward to some great things ahead.  This album, aptly titled BAYOHBAHB, will be released by Hand Eye Records. After playing for a year now with these first batch of songs, we can expect Torres’ restless spirit to have somehow found a way to improve upon his already perfected craft of beautiful, percussive acoustics with complementing electronics.  With a project that started for Torres as a retreat from writing his book, we can only hope that Baobab has become as important to Torres as it has to the Triangle music scene.

http://baobabmusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/baobabtheband

Check out the interview and in-studio performance with Phil Torres accompanied by the Virgins Family Band below which also included some exclusive premieres off the upcoming album BAYOHBAHB.

Listen to our interview with Baobab.

Categories
Local Music Music News and Interviews

Double Barrel Benefit 10 Artists Announcement Coming January 4

We here at WKNC are incredibly excited about the tenth anniversary to our Double Barrel Benefit series, our biggest fundraiser of the year. Each year, we ask artists from all over the area if they are available to help us by providing the triangle with two nights of amazing music. This year will be no different. Double Barrel Benefit is set to take place February 1 and 2 at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh, and we would like to invite everyone to come, enjoy some amazing music, and help us stay afloat for another year.

For those anticipating who will be playing this year (get excited, I’ve seen the lineup, and it looks awesome), we will be doing an official rundown of all eight artists this year during the Local Lunch on January 4. Mark your calendars! Join us from Noon until 1 p.m. on January 4 to celebrate the awesome artists that are playing this year’s event.

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Concert Review Local Music

Show Review: Local Band Local Beer – Toon & The Real Laww

Toon & The Real Laww

This week’s Local Band Local Beer was an awesome yet insanely odd one.  First off, any time I get the chance to see live hip-hop I’m naturally going to jump all over it, it’s just an incredible experience through and through…especially when you’ve got a live band joining in as well.  Toon & The Real Laww were joined by The Band (not that that The Band), comprised of members of LiLa’s rhythm section and a keyboard player that was twerking like his life depended on it, the combination of a live band with the booming bass brought by DJ Shahzad was what made Thursday night at Tir Na Nog truly special.  While the crowd was filled with an abnormally large amount of bougie folks dressed to impress, that didn’t stop the crowd from raging like nobody was watching.

Toon & The Real Laww have been building up quite the reputation for themselves, drawing a lot of attention from a heavily acclaimed Hopscotch set and various other local performances, the group is swiftly being mentioned with names like Kooley High, King Mez, and The Beat in terms of top local rap artists.  Toon’s clever lyricism and wordplay bounce perfectly off of the precision and finesse of The Real Laww’s flow.  Both have bukus of charisma, engaging in practically every audience member in arms reach, and often times a few more.  From free styling with the aid of a few words written by crowd members to the massive amounts of crowd participation, Toon & The Real Laww were an engaging and exciting act, a fantastic to spend a study-filled Thursday.  While the dance party continued on after the set, the dense crowd gave me no room to cook in so I unfortunately had to bounce.

 

Categories
Concert Review Local Music

Show Review: Local Band Local Beer – Phil Cook & His Feat w/ SumnerJames

Phil Cook & His Feat

Two side projects shone bright on Thursday at Tir Na Nog, as Phil Cook and James Phillips shed their usual full-time bands for a more stripped down and intimate performance for the weekly Local Band Local Beer.  James Phillips (of Bombadil) made his first solo outing with the help of Elyse Thebner (Some Army, JKutchma & The Five Fifths) to fully flesh out his minimalistic electronic act inspired by his stay in Oregon earlier this year.

A far cry from his work in the quirky folk act of Bombadil, Phillips’ set up consisted of a laptop from which to blast beats and an array of synths to produce the dense soundscape that sets the somber yet hopeful tone of his solo work.  Joined by fellow local musicians like Stuart and Daniel of Bombadil and Christy Smith of The Tender Fruit, Sumner James transitioned surprisingly well for a debut live act.  Closing with the album’s lead-off single of, “Home”, James was borderline shouting his heart out on “Losing his mind” in the state of Oregon.  These tunes can be just as therapeutic to the listener as it evidently was for Phillips, much like the deep emotion and soul poured into the mostly instrumental tunes of Phil Cook.

Phil Cook is usually just accompanied by his feet on percussion, but with the addition of Yan Westerlund (brother of Megafaun drummer Joe Westerlund and regular drummer for Bowerbirds) on drums, the fans at Tir Na Nog were treated to a tight and blues driven performance from a vastly underrated local act.  In a mostly electric set, Phil Cook jammed out on open tunings that were oozing with emotion, notes were being bent to his will and captivating concert goers to move and shake like an old revival show.  From instrumental blues jams to a rootsy lullaby sung for his young son, Phil Cook displayed his breadth of talent with dobro jams and a strong sense of musical connectivity with Yan who provided simplistic yet driving rhythms for songs he was mostly unfamiliar with.  For a low key show from local side projects, these two acts displayed vast amounts of talent and promise, making for a fantastic way to spend a Thursday evening.

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Festival Coverage Local Music

That Shakori Hills Time of Year

One of my favorite events of last fall was Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, located in Pittsboro, N.C. Camping out with your friends, seeing incredible live music, and living off campfire food and veggie things for the weekend is a cure for anything that’s been getting you down. And it’s back again for its 10th spring installment, April 19-22.

This spring’s lineup is exciting: Leftover Salmon, Donna the Buffalo, Blitz the Ambassador, The Red Clay Ramblers, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Rubblebucket, Suénalo, Preston Frank, The Sim Redmond Band, Elephant Revival, David Wax Museum, Driftwood, and Lydia Loveless…

Local acts like Diali Cissokho & Kairaba, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Bombadil, The Beast, Mandolin Orange, Dark Water Rising, Justin Robinson & The Mary Annettes, Greg Humphreys & The Hobex All Stars, Lizzy Ross Band, Music Maker Revue, Midtown Dickens, Rey Norteño, Big Fat Gap, Randy Dean Whitt, New Town Drunks, Sarah Shook & The Devil, Shirlette & The Dynamite Brothers, Apple Chill Cloggers, Onyx Club Boys, Deep Chatham, Curtis Eller, Jeanne Jolly, The Ayr Mountaineers, and Justin Johnson…

And other bands, such as Revelation Mizik, Equanimous Minds, Richie Stearns & Rosie Newton, Jim Avett, Raffa & Rainer, Dirty Bourbon River Show, Harper & Midwest Kind, Old Man Luedecke, The South Carolina Broadcasters, Dutch Bucket System, Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Farmer Jason, Mad Tea, Bareknuckle Betties, Roxanna & The Rusty Bucket Band, Elkland Art Center Puppets, Town Hall, Kin Ship, and more.

WKNC will be helping you and your friends go this year, with day-passes to giveaway on the Local Lunch, Americana,  Blues & Company, The Church of Bluegrass and the Truer Sounds, Both Kinds Radio and our Facebook page. If you impress the DJ, you may even get the newest Bombadil CD All the Rain Promises as part of your prize! Make sure to tune in and have your phones ready so when the DJ asks for it, you’ll be all set to win!