WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student RadioMusic news, interviews, features and giveaways
Presenting our ticket giveaways for the week of August 2:
On August 7, we have tickets to Here We Go Magic at Cat’s Cradle and Los Lobos at The NC Museum of Art;
On August 10, we have tickets to Hearts & Daggers at Slim’s;
and if you’re a fan of Chainsaw Rock, we have tickets to Cynic at Cat’s Cradle on August 9.
That’s all we got this week. Stay tuned for these giveaways and more only on WKNC 88.1
On July 28, we have tickets to Streetlight Manifesto at the Lincoln Theatre, and The White Cascade at Slim’s.
On July 30, we have tickets to J. Roddy Walston & The Business at Slim’s, and The Old Ceremony at The Pour House.
On July 31, we have tickets to Corrosion of Conformity at The Pour House.
On September 1, we have tickets to Joan Baez at The North Carolina Museum of Art.
REMINDER! the July 31 Luego show at Slim’s has been rescheduled to August 13
We also have tickets to Salt at Crossroads Cary 20.
Did you miss the chance to win Barenaked Ladies with Ben Kweller tickets? Well, we still have tickets for their show July 31 at the Raleigh Amphitheater. Just be the correct caller when the WKNC deejay asks for it, and you could win tickets for you and a friend to the show! Tickets are also available at Livenation.com.
The debut album from the lo-fi pop band Best Coast, titled Crazy for You, is now streaming in its entirety. After creating a large amount of buzz with the release of several 7’’ singles and EPs, the band is set to release their debut with Wichita Recordings next week. The band will be performing at this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival at Tir na nOg on September 9.
It’s one thing to play in front of the President of the United States at the White House. Last month, Jack White not only did that but he covered a Beatles’ song right in front of Paul McCartney. The reason for such an event came with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, which this year celebrated the musical career of Paul McCartney. White covered “Mother Nature’s Son” in front of a rather large audience, and the performance had yet to be seen by those outside of the East Room until PBS released a video of the performance July 21. White was one of several artists to perform that evening. Other performances included Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, and more. The performances are set to air on PBS on July 28.
Watch the full episode. See more In Performance at The White House.
Last week, the Sajhammer and I were joined by some local guests to promote the Do Itcha Damn Self show at the Pinhook last Friday night. The premise for the event entailed taking some of your favorite local musicians and allowing them to perform on stage by themselves. Vocals, instruments, and abundant creativity were needed in order to play in sync and pull everything together.
Phil Cook of Megafaun and Catherine Edgerton of Midtown Dickens were two major proponents in starting the inaugural event. We asked them various questions, such as the types of instruments they planned to use as well as the ideas that jump started Do Itcha Damn Self. Check out the full interview below:
Since 1992 the Mercury Prize has been celebrating some of the best albums from the UK and Ireland. Each year a handful of albums released between June 30 of last year and July 1 of this year are selected by an exclusive panel of music experts. In previous years the Mercury Prize has gone to acts including Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons. This year the shortlist has been announced, with the winner receiving the Mercury Prize on September 7.
This year’s nominees Are:
Biffy Clyro– Only Revolutions
Corinne Bailey Rae- The Sea
Dizzee Rascal– Tongue N’ Cheek
Mumford & Sons– Sigh No More
Kit Downes Trio– Golden
Foals– Total Life Forever
I Am Kloot– Sky At Night
Laura Marling– I Speak Because I Can
Paul Weller– Wake Up The Nation
Villagers– Becoming A Jackal
Wild Beasts- Two Dancers
The XX– XX
Personally I think The XX have this one in the bag. However, the favorite to win last year, Florence and the Machine, was greatly upset after she was defeated by a rather obscure British rapper who had only sold a handful of albums in comparison. I doubt they would give it to Dizzee Rascal twice, and it should be interesting to see how the folk powers (and two of my favorites from this year) Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons will fair. Also, it came to me as a great surprise to see the newcomer Villagers and the jazz ensemble Kit Downes Trio nominated. This should be another interesting year for the Mercury Prize. It’s just a shame we’ll have to wait until September to find out who wins.
Who do you think should win? Leave your opinion about who you think will take home the prize in the comment section below.
This week on WKNC, we will be giving away a plethora of delightful goodies! In addition to the 2010 Honda Civic Tour with Paramore on July 23, you could win tickets for these shows:
On July 20, we have tickets to Old Habits and The Preservation at The Pour House.
SOJA press photo
On July 22, we have tickets to SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army) at The Lincoln Theatre.
DJ Elly May previews the July 23 performance of the Shen Wei Dance troupe at the Durham Performing Arts Center.
Red Clay Ramblers press photo
On July 24, we have tickets to the Red Clay Ramblers at The North Carolina Museum of Art.
On July 25, we have tickets to Spencefest, featuring The T’s, Richard Bacchus and The Loners at Slim’s.
Finally, lucky listeners will have a chance to see the movie Inception at Crossroads 20 Regal Cinema in Cary. Call us up at 860-0881 or 515-2400!
All this week WKNC will be giving away tickets for the 2010 Honda Civic Tour featuring Paramore with Tegan and Sara, New Found Glory, and Kadawatha going on this Friday, July 23 at the new Raleigh Amphitheatre. Just be the correct caller when the WKNC deejay asks for it, and you could win tickets for you and a friend. Tickets are also available at Livenation.com.
Allow me to introduce to you Toy Soldiers. As if I wasn’t already impressed by their music, after this interview, I would love to sit around a bon fire in Pennsylvania somewhere and cook s’mores with these folks just to listen to their adventures, none the less, attend their concerts. And good thing! Toy Soldiers are playing in Asheville, NC at the Lexington Ave. Brewery on August 4, 2010.
Below is a few of the select question and summarized answers.
1. Could you give me a background on your band?
Basically, in short, the band began as just two of us (building caastleees in the skyyy). Me (Ron Gallo) and my long-time friend Mike Baurer. One day in September of 2007 we were just sitting around and decided to write some really inappropriate joke songs and record them on the internal microphone of my computer. It was around this same time I had started to delve really deep into American Roots music. We decided to give up the joking for a bit and try out a real song of mine. It was a sort of an odd take on a blues song, and all of the sudden, I was singing and playing the guitar in a way I never had before. We had this new door open up and we just ran with it, not focusing too much on the detail but just getting across. “Throw Me Down”. That was the second song we came up with and we wrote while riding bikes almost three years ago.
Fast forward!
Time came to make a real album. It was during this time I had called a bunch of talented friends of mine to come in and basically write whatever parts they wanted and play them on the record. After the sessions, they sort of just stuck around and we played our first show all together on May 9, 2009 with the big band.
Since then some people have come and gone. I wasn’t crazy about having this new band have to push a record they weren’t even on, and we had new songs. So, the new lineup recorded those, subtracted four old tracks from the original album and added the four new ones. And that is “Whisper” as we know it today.
That was in no way, shape, or form the short version. Haha.
2. What is it like working as such a large musical group? Does one person tend to take charge when writing lyrics or composing the music?
A lot of people tend to focus on the fact that the band is large. Right now, Toy Soldiers is a five-piece (Me, Dan, Noah, Bennett and Tom) and occasionally we are joined by Kate Foust (vocals), Vinchelle Woods (vocals) Garrett Smith (Washboard, Tambourine Man), Dominic Billett (piano, percussion, singing). We also have occasional horn players, etc.
As far as songwriting. I have written most of the Toy Soldiers songs as we know them today. The way it has gone thus far is whoever you hear singing lead on a song has written the lyrics and composed all of the music for that song. We haven’t focused too much on a more collaborative songwriting effort just yet.
3. Is there one song on the album that is particularly more fun to perform live?
When we play “The Turnaround,” I sort of do this obnoxious let loose belting falsetto operatic kind of singing that everyone always laughs about, but it’s fun for me. “Loaded on Sunday” is a real banger in the live show; it’s just really dirty and raucous, just like Dan who sings the shit of that song. “Hard Times” has consistently been everyones favorite song to play live, it’s always really high energy and we’ve thrown in some little things here and there that make it unique to every show.
Toy Soldiers will be playing in Asheville, NC at the Lexington Ave. Brewery on August 4, 2010 at 8 p.m. For their full tour schedule, check out their MySpace and their Facebook . While you’re there, make sure you listen to a track or two—you won’t be disappointed. Also, listen for them (or request them!) on 88.1 WKNC.