Category: Band/Artist Profile

An in-depth look at bands and solo artists

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Band/Artist Profile

Double Barrel Benefit 11 // TOW3RS

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Tow3rs began several years ago when musician Derek Torres decided to cover a Lonnie Walker track and upload the recording online. That cover dovetailed into a cassette offer from Lonnie Walker’s label, the NC-based Diggup Tapes, and eventually into a full length, the sprightly, experimental If All We Have Is Time, which mixed equal parts generational ennui and guitar-pop songcraft.

Since then, the band’s unique approach to indie pop has shapeshifted through several incarnations as the band’s presence has increased in the Triangle, with the Tow3rs moniker currently serving as a dance-inflected solo project for Torres himself. In recent months, the project has offered the odd single on Bandcamp, as well as the occasional split, including a recent Velvet Underground covers release for Digguptapes with fellow Triangle band Lilac Shadows, on which the band provided their inspired rendition of “Rock and Roll.

As Torres readies a new LP, the newer material reveals an evolving palette of sounds and influences, but with the same strong emphasis on pop songwriting. WKNC is very excited to have Derek perform with us!

-David Smith, Music Director

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Band/Artist Profile

Double Barrel Benefit 11 // Ghostt Bllonde

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Ghostt Bllonde surfaced in early 2013, scoring a dedicated following from their countless sweaty house show performances and frenetic onstage personality. In the summer of 2013, the band released their debut album, TrashPop//DoomWop, a collection of anthemic pop rock jams. It was a far cry from their initial demos, recorded on a CD-R on a beaten-up cardboard sleeve that made its ways around the WKNC halls last year. The new record showed the band was refining their fuzzed-out style into something more, sporting powerful hooks, solid production, and the iconic moaning of impassioned frontman Marc Kuzio. They were building their style into an organized chaos that was just as accessible as it was violent.

In January of 2014, Ghostt Bllonde headlined a show at King’s with Museum Mouth and fellow Double Barrel Benefit 11 band Hammer No More The Fingers. It culminated in half the crowd rushing the stage and turning the room into a massive dance pit for the final encore. For Double Barrel’s first night, the stage may not explode into a fifty-person throwdown, but you can always count on Ghostt Bllonde’s energy to inspire a fantastic show. Catch them at the beginning of the night on February 7th at Cat’s Cradle.

-Walt Lilly, Production Manager

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Band/Artist Profile

July’s Local Artist of the Month: Bombadil

July’s Local Artist of the Month: Bombadil

wknc:

Bombadil
Bombadil are an eclectic chamber folk band out of Durham, North Carolina. Their name is derived from the J.R.R. Tolkien character Tom Bombadil from the Lord of the Rings. Tom Bombadil is a witty, peculiar character who speaks and sings in playful rhymes. The name “Bombadil” encompasses…

Our special guest for night 2 of Double Barrel 11 is Bombadil!  They will play Friday, February 14th at Lincoln Theatre.  We are really excited to have them be a part of Double Barrel.  Check out their local artist of the month write-up from July!

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Band/Artist Profile Local Music

Carolina Grown Preview: Magpie Feast w/ Texoma, Magnolia Collective & Kenny Roby

For the last official Carolina Grown of the year we’re gonna be going all out. And by that I mean we’ve got FOUR artists joining us throughout the span of our two hour show, making for the busiest week yet! From 5-6 we’ll be highlighting a few local artists that will be playing at Local 506 later on Friday night, Texoma, Magnolia Collective and Kenny Roby. After tackling some conversation and acoustic tunes with those three we’ll be onto our hour-long feature of Magpie Feast, our December Artist of the Month. It’ll be two hours filled with Southern-styled rock n’ roll goodness and an excellent send-off for what’s been a busy and wonderful first year of the show.

The first hour’s guests are some of the area’s staples when it comes to Americana music. Kenny Roby and Magnolia Collective have become figureheads of the local scene, serving as gatekeepers for the swiftly expanding roots rock scene. However, that doesn’t mean that you should write either of them off. Kenny Roby is winding down one of his best years in recent memory, anchored by the stellar release Memories & Birds back in April. Memories & Birds proves that this local icon still has plenty of gas in the tank and the same can be said for Magnolia Collective. While MagCo. is still in its early years as a project, the band’s members are no strangers to the scene. Magnolia Collective was born of Southern Rail jam sessions and has maintained that intimate vibe while slowly evolving into a cohesive and impressive unit of songwriters.

Texoma on the other hand marks a brand new start for some Triangle staples. Songwriter Zach Terry was one of the founding members within Magnolia Collective and before that was a member of the foot-stomping roots rockers The Whiskey Smugglers. As Texoma, Terry turns over a new leaf while staying firm to his alt-country roots. Texoma, Roby and Magnolia Collective will all be chatting and performing stripped down songs throughout the hour, so alt-country fans should most definitely stick close to their radios.

And if you’re a fan of the southern vibes then you’ll surely want to stick around to find out more about the elusive Magpie Feast. Though the band has been around for years now, little is known about this stellar blues-driven act. That’s one of the main reasons we’re aiming to shine our light upon this overlooked act, the other being their undeniable knack for barn-burning sing-along tracks that pack as heavy of a rhythmic punch as they do an emotional one. Expect some enlightening conversation and some brilliant renditions of the standout tracks from their latest release Out of the Womb.

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Band/Artist Profile Local Music

Carolina Grown Preview: Nov. 15

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This week’s installment of Carolina Grown is exciting for a few reasons. First off, since the show started I’ve yet to have an entire hour where I get to do nothing but play local music! Granted the whole point of a talk show is to chat with guests, but throughout the second hour of the show this week listeners will get the treat of continuous local tunes from a wide variety of artists and genres. I’m far more excited for this than I probably should be, but combining it with the fact that we’ll be highlighting our November Artist of the Month during the 5:00 hour, this makes for an awesome two hours of programming.

November’s Artist of the Month, and my guest for the first hour of Carolina Grown, is Whatever Brains. For those unfamiliar with this Triangle standout act, Whatever Brains are an amorphous punk band that has swiftly come to command the attention of everyone in proximity. Combining sparse electronic percussion with wrangling instrumentation that teeters simultaneously between noise rock, punk and garage rock, Whatever Brains’ music slowly unfurls with as much aggression as they have precision. With three full-length albums, all self-titled might I add, the band has steadily stayed close to their roots while slightly experimenting with their tried and true sound to make things both exciting and familiar.

Whatever Brains have swiftly become the figureheads of Raleigh’s punk-rock scene, especially with the untimely falling out of Double Negative. The band combines spastic punk rock roots with sprawling bouts of lo-fi psychedelia and riveting lyricism to tightly pull it all together. The band is oozing with tightly wound frustrations that pour out through their caustic live performances, displaying the tact and finesse that many punk bands are devoid of.

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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

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Band/Artist Profile

06/04/13 Spotlight: Edgar The Beatmaker

Eighteen year old Archy Marshall aka Zoo Kid aka King Krule has been going by yet another moniker. Since January of 2013, the U.K. native has been releasing hip-hop oriented music under the name Edgar the Beatmaker. Marshall has uploaded a small collection of tracks to a Bandcamp page.

Back in 2011, Marshall described himself more as an MC than a vocalist and proclaimed love for East Coast hip-hop acts like D.I.T.C. and Gang Starr. In addition, the Beatmaker has a SoundCloud page which includes more beat-driven and rapping under the name DJ JD Sports.

Stay tuned for the next alias of the king of cool kids, Archy Marshall.

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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!

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Band/Artist Profile

DBB9 Band Spotlight: Gross Ghost

Double Barrel Benefit 9 is coming up this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4, and oh my is it going to be something wonderful.  Filled with an eclectic mix of local talent spanned across two nights, The Pour House is going to be housing one of the finest locally-grown lineups of the year,  including The Kingsbury Manx, The Future Kings of Nowhere, Organos, MAKE and more.  Night Two in particular boats some of the Triangle’s most exciting and swiftly rising bands, especially Gross Ghost.

Gross Ghost is a four-piece band based out of Chapel Hill with a mesmerizing sound.  While the instrumentation is usually full of driving rhythms that are tinged with surf-punk vibes, the vocal melodies are infectious and perfectly contrast the fast-paced frenetic indie-punk soundscape.  Gross Ghost took the state by storm last year with two incredible EP’s, Lip City and Wicked Game, leaving fans anxiously awaiting their upcoming LP Brer Rabbit, which is to be released early this year.

Gross Ghost’s Grip Tapes label mate Heads on Sticks will also be playing Double Barrel Benefit on Saturday night, along with Naked Gods and The Kingsbury Manx.  Tickets for one night are $10 in advance while tickets for both nights are $15 in advance.  Under 21 is subject to a $5 cover charge.

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Band/Artist Profile

Rising Artist Spotlight: Che Blaq

Seattle’s Che Blaq has brought a new innovative sound to the genre of R&B by combining the sounds of electro-pop, hip-hop, and vintage soul. What makes Che stand out amongst other upcoming R&B artists is his smooth, yet soulful and powerful voice, catchy and fresh melodies and edgy production.

Che’s debut album “Fearless” will be arriving in stores soon and promises to be filled with songs written, produced and arranged primarily by himself.

Aside from his solo endeavors, Che is one half of R&B duo, The ARq, along with Jay Dot, who recently released their second album “Untouchable 2.0”. He is also the CEO of HouseHold Entertainment/Island Hills Publishing.

To find out more about Che, visit facebook, twitter,myspace and Ourstage. Check out “Real RnB Radio’s” exclusive Q&A with the talented singer/songwriter and listen to some of his music below.

Q: How would you describe your sound?

A: Electro-pop-soul. It’s a complex mixture of ambient undertones, heavy rhythmic patterns, and bright synths. Really emotional epic stuff.

Q: Who are your primary musical influences?

A: Sade, Sting, Seal, Daft Punk, Placebo, Donny Hathaway… I don’t really have a traditional ear for music. I try to keep an open palette.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish through your music?

A: I want to give a voice to the so called “different”. The people that don’t really fit in. The ones that seem to always get picked last. We all have a story…

Q: What’s been the highlight of your career thus far?

A: Being able to create something that the world has given so much love to. Doing what you love to do for a living is truly a blessing.

Q: If you weren’t singing, what would be be doing?

A: I’d probably be a wrestling promoter…lol. I’m such a fan!

Q: Guilty Pleasures?

A: Krusteaz DIY chocolate chip cookies, anything Batman, and scary movies.

Q: Fave TV show/cartoon?

A: Fringe, Law & Order SVU, Spongebob, and Kid vs. Kat

Q: Celebrity crush?

A: Eva Mendes and Rosario Dawson…lol

Q: Biggest Pet Peeve?

A: Being late.

Q: Anything you’d like to add about yourself in two or less sentences?

A: If you see me online, scream at me. I’m a pretty easy going guy.

Look out for Fearless later this year.