WKNC made College Music Journal’s “Chart Discovery” list last week with the inclusion of WKNC Lounge artist Wing Dam on its weekly Radio 200 charts.
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Category: Blog
Harvest Records, beloved Asheville-based independent record store and label, will celebrate it’s 10 year anniversary with the return of multi-day music festival, Transfigurations II, a sequel to 2009’s Transfigurations I. Through these festivals, owners Mark Capon and Matt Schnable hope to reflect Harvest and the community’s tastes, as well as encourage people to discover new music.
“In all honesty, if we look back on our earliest hopes, dreams and visions of what Harvest Records could become, it would mirror what actually ended up happening,” said Harvest Records’ Mark Capon and Matt Schnable in a press release statement. “Since our college days together, the idea was consistent: Open a record shop, yes, of course…but don’t let it stop there. Create a space dedicated to the discovery of music, the exchange of ideas, a place for broader discussions about community. Book shows for artists that normally wouldn’t come to town; host art on our walls from local artists who haven’t shown much before; start a record label and release recordings of sounds that may have not otherwise been produced physically. And it all happened.”
Transfigurations II will take place August 28-30 in Harvest’s home of West Asheville. The festival will feature more than 25 bands at three different venues throughout Asheville and Marshall, NC. Lineup highlights include Ashley Olsen, The Clean, Hiss Golden Messenger, and Mount Eerie.
Tune into WKNC this week for your chance to win Saturday day passes to Transfigurations II.
Visit Harvest Records for more information and tickets.
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Old Crow Medicine Show along with special guests, Shovels & Rope, will be coming to the Red Hat Amphitheatre on August 20th. WKNC will be giving away tickets for the show until Tuesday, August 19th. All you have to do is be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it and you could win yourself a night of great music. So don’t miss this golden opportunity! All of your friends will think you are so cool once you tell them you won free tickets from WKNC. That girl/guy will be highly impressed by your resourcefulness and finally agree to go out on a date with you. Basically, these tickets will change your life.
Old Crow Medicine Show is a bluegrass/americana band from Harrisonburg Virginia. They were discovered by bluegrass legend Doc Watson while the band was performing out on the streets of Boone, North Carolina. The band brings a classic, folk rock sound to the table that warms your heart and makes ya’ feel rightcha at home in ol’e North Caka-Laka. Old Crow Medicine Show makes me think of what southern country music should sound like. Plenty of harmonica solos, lots of banjo pickin’, a big upright bass, and overall great tunes. Even if you don’t like americana music, it’s hard not to like Old Crow Medicine Show’s sound. And with songs like “Down Home Girl” and “Caroline” you can’t help but admire the musical talent behind the music. But you know what they say, “Americana sound’s best when heard live”. I think that’s an ancient chinese proverb. Maybe not. But who knows, right? What is for certain is that you won’t regret a night with Old Crow Medicine Show!
(P.S. If you’ve gone to any NC State sponsored/related event you’ve probably heard Old Crow Medicine Show’s song Wagon Wheel “heeeeeeeeey mama rock me”)
Shovels & Rope is an Americana duo from Charleston, South Carolina. Their music is filled with mellifluous vocal harmonies, palpitating drums, and dulcet acoustic guitars. A little less bluegrass than Old Crow Medicine Show but still an excellent example of southern americana rock. Check out their song Birmingham to hear a great example of my (fancily worded) description for the band.
So be on the listen for DJs giving away these tickets all week!
Good luck!
One of the great features of Hopscotch Music Fest is that it not only aims to expose the community to new music, but also a deeper range of culture. This year, to the delight of the growing design community in Raleigh, Hopscotch is introducing its own Design Festival. Kicking off a day before the music begins, the Design Festival promises an enlightening conversation about current design and its role in the future.
With its own lineup and separate wristband, the Design Fest will house a subculture of people separate from the typical nightgoers. However, the two festivals will not only have overlapping attendees, but also overlapping performers as a few of the Design Festival’s speakers are on the Hopscotch Music Festival schedule.. With worldwide renown designers, the festival is sure to be compelling and informative for designers and nondesigners alike.
The 2-day Design Festival will take place from Sept. 3rd – 4th. From 9:30am to 4pm on Wednesday, there will be speakers at the Raleigh Convention Center, CAM’s Main Gallery and Classroom, Flanders, Clearscapes, and Red Hat. Speakers include Brian Singer of Pinterest, Pierce Freelon + Apple Juice Kid co-founders of Beat Making Lab, and Doug Powell of IBM. During this period, there will be Interactive Projects and a Prototyping Festival. In addition, from 1pm – 4pm, the Raleigh Convention Center will be hosting a Hopscotch Lab featuring Elliot Montgomery’s Extrapolation Factory.
The Extrapolation Factory was a project developed by designers Chris Woebken and Elliott Montgomery to encourage people to get in the mindset of not predicting, but actively embodying design. The Extrapolation Factory features “futuring research;” it is an imagination-based studio that uses hands-on activities to further people’s understanding of how we control the future through our design. By the end of the lab, participants should have a deeper understanding on how “futuring” affects them and they’re powerful role in it.
From 4pm – 5pm there will be a Happy Hour at CAM immediately preceding Shohei Shigematsu’s seminar at the Raleigh Convention Center. Shohei Shigematsu became Director of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in 2006 and a Partner in 2008. Shigematsu has directed multiple architectural projects under OMA including the Milstein Hall (a College of Architecture extension) and the current construction of the Quebec National Beaux Arts museum and the Faena Arts Center in Miami Beach. Shigematsu has even collaborated with Kanye West on a seven-screen pavilion that was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.
Following Shigematsu’s seminar is an In-House Design reflections panel at Red Hat. The first day’s events will end with a party at Lincoln Theatre from 8pm – 10pm.
On Thursday, speakers will be having seminars at participating venues the Raleigh Convention Center, the Stockroom, King’s Barcade, Raleigh City Museum, and Lincoln Theatre. Included in Thursday’s speakers are Annie Atkins the lead graphic designer for Wes Anderson’s film The Grand Budapest Hotel, Tristan Shone and Lee Noble. As a mechanical engineering and musician, Tristan Shone has built his career designing custom machines and speakers for his music project Author & Punisher. He has been producing his “doom-influenced” sounds for the past 10 years releasing 5 albums to date. Shone will be performing at Kings Barcade on Thursday at 11:30pm. Lee Noble runs No Kings in Los Angelos, a small-batch tape release record label. Noble plans to discuss the aesthetics in the combination of music, art, and design in relation to his label. Noble’s music is described as mysterious and elusive and he will also be playing Hopscotch Thursday at Fletcher Opera Theater at 9pm. Thursday’s events will end with a day party at the Convention Center.
Hopscotch is selling 2-Day Design Festival passes for $150 and for half price with the purchase of a VIP or 3-day music pass.
Below is a full list of speakers.
Shohei Shigematsu – Partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)
Harper Reed – Founder and CEO of Modest, Chief Technology Officer for Obama 2012 campaign
Sarah Miller Caldicott – executive with Global 500 firms including Quaker Oats/Pepsi and the Helene Curtis subsidary of Unilever, co-author of Innovate Like Edison: The Five Step System for Breakthrough Business Success
Elle Luna – Designer, painter, and writer. Creator of Bulan Project
Kai-Uwe Bergmann – Partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
Alexander Isley – Founder of Alexander Inc., graduate of NCSU’s College of Design and The Cooper Union School of Art
Doug Powell – Design Principal and Design Education Program Director at IBM
Annie Atkins – Lead Graphic Designer on Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel
Brian Singer – Manager on the Communication Design team at Facebook, previously worked with Apple, Adidas, Stanford Lively Arts, and Chronicle Books
Maurice Woods – Founder and Executive Director of the Inneract Project
Casey Caplowe – Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of GOOD
Cliff Bleszinski – Former Design Director at Epic Games
Sha Hwang – Designer on Healthcare.gov team, worked with The New York Times, CNN, MTV, Flickr, and Adobe
Pamela Abalu – Global Head of Design and Construction for MetLife Inc.
Mitchell Silver – Commissioner of New York City’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation
Elliot Montgomery – Co-Founder of The Extrapolation Factory
Matt Tomasulo – Chief Instigator of Walk [Your City]
Jake Levitas – Innovation Fellow in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation
Rob Cotter – Founder and CEO of Organic Transit
Katie Potochney – Creative Director at SYPartners
Jarin Tabata – Creative Director at SYPartners
Timothy Myers – Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of North Carolina Opera
Patrick Hobgood – Raleigh native who worked for the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and currently at family business Kenneth Hobgood Architects (KHA)
Tristan Shore – Musician and Engineer; playing Hopscotch Thursday at King’s Barcade under the name Author & Punisher
Apple Juice Kid & Pierce Freelon – Co-Founders of the Beat Making Lab
Lee Noble – runs No Kings record Label, performing at Hopscotch on Thursday at Fletcher Opera Theater
Heather Cook – Founder of Shind!gs
Kaitlyn Goalen – Co-Founder of Short Stack Editions
Meredith Pittman – NCSU’s College of Design Graduate working with Wild Yonder and Ellen Cassilly Architect
Garrett Grohman – Manager of A&R at Indiegogo
Merrette Moore – Founder and Managing Director of Lookout Capital
Creighton Blackwell – Vice President of Branch Networks and Community Engagement at Coastal Federal Credit Union
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dJ/dx and Me interviewed Oulipo last Thursday before they played Local Band Local Beer at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh.
They played three songs during the interview: Night Legs, Shine On You Crazy Bastard and Hanging Hook.
You can follow Oulipo on Twitter and Facebook, and buy their music on Bandcamp.
This Friday is Folk Friday at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw. It’s an event presented by Artists Like You, who are all about finding an audience for talented North Carolina musicians. The event will take place in the Outdoor Amphitheater, so it’s sure to be a great way soak up the last of these summer nights.
Performing acts include David Childers of Overmountain Men, and a brand new band on the block, Emma Nelson and the Umphs.
The event starts at 7pm. Oh yeah, and it’s FREE!
Check it out.
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Hopscotch Music Fest is almost here!
As usual the staff is incredibly excited to see some of the best new and lesser-known musical acts 2014 has to offer. As part of WKNC’s unique coverage of the festival we’ve created this video playlist of all the Lounge artists playing this year. Discover the lineup’s hidden gems by watching the playlist!
Two Lounge alumni featured in this playlist, Krill and Palehound, will be performing at WKNC’s Hopscotch Day party at Nice Price Books on Hillsborough Street along with Black Santa, Y’all, and Matt Kivel! Friday September 5th. (We’ve heard there’ll be pizza)
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
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This is not a test or an SOS
My name is Jamie and I’m crazy about Miniature Tigers. I’ve seen them more times than I can remember (13, maybe?), which is pretty impressive considering they’re from Phoenix and now live in Brooklyn. I even tried to see them open for fun. during a vacation in metro Detroit, but the show was sold out. I ended up having a drink at the bar that shares a back wall with the venue and catching a muffled version of their set (which technically makes 13.5 shows).
After skipping over the Triangle on their tour with Bear Hands this spring, I am delighted for the opportunity to see them headline the Cat’s Cradle Back Room with The Griswolds and Finish Ticket on Wednesday, Aug. 12. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $14 at the door.
To prepare you for their Cat’s Cradle show, let me run down the Miniature Tigers discography. “Tell it to the Volcano” (2008) is bubblegum pop at its finest. To quote former WKNC general manager Kyle Robb, “each track is as catchy as the Bubonic Plague.” It gave the CD player in my car quite the workout. The band’s electronic influences are more prevalent in their sophomore album, “Fortress” (2010). They kept turning up the techo for “Mia Pharaoh” (2012), but the catchy hooks were still there with such songs as “Cleopatra” and “Sex on the Regular.” The band’s fourth album, "Cruel Runnings" (2014), was released in June. It takes a few listens to get into it, but you’ll be humming “Swimming Pool Blues” before long.
Want to know what Miniature Tigers have been listening to lately? Check out the “On the Road” Spotify playlist they made with The Griswolds. See you soon.
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WKNC 88.1 FM CHARTS August 12, 2014
WKNC Radio 200
Rank–Artist–Recording–Label
1–ALVVAYS–Alvvays–Polyvinyl
2–HONEYBLOOD–Honeyblood–Fat Cat
3–FIELD MOUSE–Hold Still Life–Topshelf
4–BEAR IN HEAVEN–Time Is Over One Day Old–Hometapes-Dead Oceans
5–TOTAL CONTROL–Typical System–Iron Lung
6–EULA–Orderly [7-Inch]–Bloodmoss
7–COLD BEAT–Over Me–Crime On The Moon
8–GULP–Season Sun–Everloving
9–WUNDER WUNDER–Everything Infinite–Dovecote
10–LULUC–Passerby–SUB POP
11–WHITE FENCE–For The Recently Found Innocent–Drag City
12–KUTOSIS–Dream It Away–Jealous Lovers Club
13–JENNY LEWIS–Voyager–warner
14–MATT KIVEL–Days Of Being Wild–Woodsist
15–A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW–Sea When Absent–Lefse
16–PARQUET COURTS–Sunbathing Animal–What’s Your Rupture?
17–JOYCE MANOR–Never Hungover Again–Epitaph
18–FLOATING ACTION–Body Questions–New West
19–PROPER ORNAMENTS–Wooden Head–Slumberland
20–HOORAY FOR EARTH–Racy–Smalltown Supersound
21–DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE–Hunger–Castle Face
22–SPIDER BAGS–Frozen Letter–Merge
23–WING DAM–Shifter Bliss–Friends Records
24–SLOW CLUB–Complete Surrender–Wichita
25–EPHEMERALS–Nothin Is Easy–Jalapeno
26–TWIN PEAKS–Wild Onion–Grand Jury
27–ROSEBUDS–Sand + Silence–Western Vinyl
28–HALEY BONAR–Last War–Graveface
29–DIRTY LUNGS–Dirty Lungs–Communicating Vessels
30–GOT A GIRL–I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now–Bulk
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Rank–Artist–Recording–Label
1–AMAZING SNAKEHEADS–Amphetamine Ballads–Domino
2–NAOMI PUNK–Television Man–Captured Tracks
3–RUBBLEBUCKET–Survival Sounds–Communion
4–MIREL WAGNER–When The Cellar Children See The Light Of Day–SUB POP
5–CASTANETS–Decimation Blues–Asthmatic Kitty