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Festival Coverage

A Crash Course in Navigating Shakori Hills

With every six months comes another edition of Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance. With the spring semester at NC State coming to a recent close, it is only fitting to put together a crash course in how to successfully navigate the muddy paths of future Shakori festivals! 

Lesson #1: Keep a map! Shakori is relatively big with multiple stages, a big dance tent, sprawling camping sites. Make sure to grab yourself a copy when you check in at the ticketing booths to make navigating between the stages efficient and stress free. There is constant fun to be had at Shakori and getting lost is just a big ol’ waste! 

Lesson #2: Expect to get dirty. There is mud. Lots and lots of mud. For some meteorological reason beyond my understanding, it seems to ALWAYS rain right before Shakori gets going. With hundreds of people trekking through the earth, things get dirty quite quickly. 

Lesson #3: Barefoot, boots or bust. There is no in between when it comes to what to put on your feet. With all the mud puddles, if you don’t want to get mud on your feet, the only way its to wear knee length, waterproof boots, rain boots do well here. But if you want to cut corners, you really can’t here. Wearing any other type of footwear will just leave you with mud in between your foot and shoe, you might as well rip the shoes off and get a some foot exfoliation au naturale. 

Lesson #4: Bring snacks! You will burn lots of calories running around between tents, dancing your booty off, setting up your sick camping site, etc. Don’t forget to feed yourself often, it’s easy to forget. Fuel your fun with extra snacks, I always bring a handful of protein bars and some fruit to keep me going. The food trucks are always amazing but for your average college student, a bit of a supplement is a must. 

Lesson #5: HYDRATE YO BODY. You are a big water bag and you shouldn’t let Shakori dry you up. Bring a reliable water bottle and acquaint yourself the water taps dispersed throughout the Shakori grounds. Coffee, alcohol and soda will dehydrate you, so with every non-water drink you have, try to compensate with twice as much water. 

Lesson #6: Have fun! Shakori is a weekend of unforgettable times with music and art loving people. Don’t be afraid to branch out and meet new people, your soul will thank you. 

This is DJ Sparrow hoping to see you at many Shakori Festivals to come! 

Categories
Local Music Music News and Interviews

LBLB Interview: Hi-Wire Brewing

DJ Sparrovv chats with Tom from Hi-Wire Brewing. Based in Asheville, N.C., Hi-Wire sponsored the April 28 and May 5 Local Band Local Beer shows. Click to listen to their conversation.

Categories
Local Music Music News and Interviews

LBLB Interview: LAIRS 

Durham trio LAIRS dropped by the WKNC studios to chat with DJ Sparrovv and Whatsherface before their gig that night at Local Band Local Beer. They chatted about what brought the band together, their songwriting process, and the story behind “Desert Girl.” Click to hear their interview.

Categories
Festival Coverage

Shakori Hills: Top 5 Picks

Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is a semi-annual grassroots festival held in Pittsboro, N.C. The festival features a variety of music from bluegrass to indie pop as well as dance workshops and crafts; something for everyone can be found there. Despite its cold and rainy start, Shakori has lots to offer. Here are DJ Whatsherface’s five bands you won’t want to miss:

#5 – Big Fat Gap
Looking for some good Authentic N.C. bluegrass tunes? Big Fat Gap consists of guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass. The lineup includes former members of Mipso and Mandolin Orange, making it a great band to check out.

#4 – Ellis Dyson and the Shambles
This band will undoubtedly have you dancing. Hailing from Chapel Hill, this folk band with an old time feel and jazz influences will rise your spirits and make you wish you knew how to swing dance.

#3 –

Rebekah Todd and the Odyssey

Rebekah Todd started her musical career as a solo folk/blues artist from the small NC town of Benson, and now plays in a five piece band. With raw folk instrumentals with a twinge of funk/jazz their unique sound is one to check out.

#2 – River Whyless
This indie folk band from Asheville will pull at your heart with emotional lyrics of self exploration and loss accompanied by beautiful vocal harmonies, strings and percussion.

#1 – Punch Brothers
This experimental bluegrass band from New York is definitely a festival favorite. Featuring mandolin, fiddle, banjo, bass, and guitar this band stands out from other bands with their unique sound incorporating classical and chamber music aspects into their songs.

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM Loud Rock/ Chainsaw Charts 5/3/16

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1 LYCUS – Chasms

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2 WINDHAND

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Grief’s Infernal Flower

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Relapse
3 FOUNDATION

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Turncoat

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Jawk
4 FORCED ORDER

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Turn The Knife
5 KYLESA

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Exhausting Fire Season Of Mist
6 DEFEATER

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Abandoned

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Epitaph
7 DEAFHEAVEN

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New Bermuda

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Anti
8 FUTURE PRIMITIVE

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Spring Break Demo

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Self-Released
9 VILE CREATURE

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A Steady Descent Into The Soil
10 MAGRUDERGRIND

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II

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Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM Radio 200/Indie Rock Charts 5/3/16

1 FREE CAKE FOR EVERY CREATURE – Talking Quietly Of Anything With You

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Double Double Whammy
2 PARQUET COURTS

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Human Performance

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Rough Trade
3 TEEN SUICIDE

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It’s The Big Joyous Celebration, Let’s Stir The Honeypot

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Run For Cover
4 FRANKIE COSMOS

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Next Thing

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Bayonet
5 B BOYS

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No Worry No Mind

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Captured Tracks
6 HAMMOCK

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Everything And Nothing

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Self-Released
7 WOODS

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City Sun Eater In The River Of Light

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Woodsist
8 TANCRED

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Out Of The Garden

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Polyvinyl
9 SLINGSHOT DAKOTA

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Break

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Topshelf
10 MOTHERS

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When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired

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Grand Jury
11 DEAKIN

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Sleep Cycle

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My Animal Home
12 SOLIDS

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Else

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Topshelf
13 AUDACITY

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Hyper Vessels

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Suicide Squeeze
14 TACOCAT

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Lost Time

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Hardly Art
15 CULLEN OMORI

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New Misery

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SUB POP
16 KEVIN MORBY

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Singing Saw

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Dead Oceans
17 INTO IT. OVER IT.

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Standards

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Triple Crown
18 SUN DAYS

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Album

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Run For Cover
19 LA SERA

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Music For Listening To Music To

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Polyvinyl
20 PINEGROVE

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Cardinal

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Run For Cover
21 POOKIE AND THE POODLEZ

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Young Adult

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SouthPaw
22 MUSEYROOM

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Pearly Whites

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Grind Select
23 BLEACHED

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Welcome The Worms

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Dead Oceans
24 SUMMER TWINS

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Limbo

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Burger
25 HIGHER AUTHORITIES

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Neptune

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Domino
26 LIONLIMB

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Shoo

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Bayonet
27 EERIE WANDA

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Hum

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BBIB
28 SOUND OF CERES

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Nostalgia For Infinity

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Joyful Noise
29 SUUNS

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Hold/Still

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Secretly Canadian
30 LAURA GIBSON

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Empire Builder

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Barsuk

Top Five Adds This Week:

1 NOTHING

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Tired Of Tomorrow

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Relapse
2 SORORITY NOISE

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It Kindly Stopped For Me

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Topshelf
3 CATE LE BON

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Crab Day

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Drag City
4 PLUSH

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Please

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Father/Daughter
5 KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD

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Nonagon Infinity

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ATO

Categories
Music News and Interviews

DJ Iron Mic Interview with Black Boye 

Hillsborough, N.C. rapper Black Boye stopped by the WKNC studios to chat with DJ Iron Mic about his new single, “War.” Click here to listen.

Categories
Festival Coverage

Phuzz Phest 2016 Review: Thee Oh Sees

Thee Oh Sees are classified as a garage rock band, but they incorporate other forms of rock such as psychedelic and post-rock. They hail from California, so it’s an honor to see them at Phuzz. Unlike many cookie-cutter rock bands, this one has two drummers who accent each other’s parts throughout their many head-banging songs. I actually didn’t realize this until the end when the crowd cleared, but it definitely makes sense with how they sounded. 

Bailey Park, an outdoor venue, housed this energetic bunch of musicians and their lo-fi singing. Perhaps my favorite part of the concert was three songs before they left the stage when the lead singer, John Dwyer, issued a disclaimer about their music. “There’s no toilet paper in the bathroom, so beware of this next one, dudes.” Following this statement, they played one of their shorter songs, but seamlessly transitioned into one of their longer one which took up the remaining 10 minutes they had on stage. As the minutes flew by, I thrashed my head and bounced around in the pit to the harpy-like singing and reverb guitar. I felt as though I had traveled to the Underworld and Thee Oh Sees were dragging me through the River Styx.

Categories
Festival Coverage

Phuzz Phest 2016 Preview: Must Be The Holy Ghost

Must Be The Holy Ghost is the project of Winston-Salem’s own Jared Draughon. This is one of the artists I am most excited to see at Phuzz Phest, as MBTHG is best known for their fantastic live show. Draughon plays solo equipped with loop pedals and a drum machine to create songs that build up to a huge wall of sound rarely seen from a full band, let alone a solo performer. The live show also features visuals from a projectionist that displays colorful psychedelic patterns with color dyes on an old projector.

MBTHG is one of my favorite local artists from the Winston area and joins a great selection of North Carolina artists that are playing Phuzz Phest. I can’t wait to see the musical and visual display put on by Draughon in his local city among so many other great bands. 

Categories
Festival Coverage

SXSW Day Party Recap

Last month I had the pleasure of traveling to Austin, TX and attending a few day parties at South by South West!

SXSW day parties are a series of unofficial shows put on by various sponsors during the festival. These showcases are great for those like me who were unable to purchase a music pass as they are open to the general public and free to attend. (much like Hopscotch music festival’s day parties).

Every business in the city of Austin seemed to get into the swing of the Festival from venues like Spider house, pizza places like 100 Pizzitas even people’s homes become venues for the week.

Although I only attended three days and I should mention couldn’t go to every show I desired because of my age, (I’d say this festival is not the most under drinking age friendly) I was able to see good range of artists and fall in love with that southern city.

Here’s a photographic overview of a few places I went, and artists I saw.

Alex G. A WKNC favorite, this Low-fi band never disappoints live. Among many other places they played at outdoor venue Space 24Twenty which was sponsored by Urban Outfitters.

City of The Sun. Probably the most magical and unexpected performance I attended while in Austin. I had known the acoustic post rock band would be in Austin for the festival, but was bummed the only shows I could find were for pass holders only. To my surprise while walking into downtown I found them busking under a bridge. 

Kississippi. I had no idea what “Eden House” was when I got the address for the Funeral sounds/Broken world media sponsored show only to find myself in someone’s cleared out living room to see the heartfelt indy-pop band among other artists. 

Happy Abandon. Got a taste of back home seeing this Chapel Hill Indy band in Austin. Playing at 100 Pizzitas a pizza shop whose view of Downtown Austin’s skyline was as beautiful as their melodic sound.

Netherfriends. This solo project by Shawn Rosenblatt as he explicitly describes as “blues trap” undoubtedly wins the most unsettling performance I have seen.. ever. With a combination of rude humor, crude dancing, and technical difficulties although I had previously enjoyed his recordings its a wonder how he landed shows at SXSW. 

Mother Falcon. These Austin natives put on their own showcase, “All the friends ball” where they invited bands from the area and nationally which they’ve developed relations with to play a day show at Spider house Cafe a beautiful outdoor venue, bar and restaurant. Although their set was cut short because of time restrictions this 15 piece orchestral folk band blew me away. 

And the Kids. This upbeat indie-pop trio from Massachusetts played at And the Friends ball showcase at Spiderhouse Ballroom along with a deer they claimed to have “rescued.”

– DJ Whatsherface