Precious metal (albeit named as much after the Hebrew word golem and Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” reference as for Tolkien’s character). Also featuring punk/hardcore-influenced Gordonsvillian black metal band Destroy The Reviled and Winchester thrash quartet Hull House.
buy tickets onlineFirst, opener Joe Pug kicks things off with folk tunes that everyone seems to be comparing to Bob Dylan. These days that’s almost a catch-all starting point for describing any folk songwriter because of Dylan’s monumental influence, of course, so maybe Josh Ritter is a better place to start, and Pug says he counts John Prine, Elliott Smith, and Kurt Cobain among his influences. Still curious? He’ll mail you as many free CDs as you want. Seriously, .
Then there’s Earle, whose last Paramount performance, around this time last year, was a spectacular set of the country-rock tunes which have made him a legend over the past thirty years. Many of them were acoustic numbers drawn from Washington Square Serenade, his loving 2007 ode to New York City, but things culminated in a totally unexpected trippy turntable jam with John King of the Dust Brothers.
King is also responsible for bulking up one of the tracks on Earle’s latest album with guitar work by Tom Morello, whose rage against the right-wingers was matched in recent years perhaps only by Earle’s own on 2004’s politically charged The Revolution Starts Now, but this time around the mission is more compassionate. Townes is a tribute to the songs of the late Townes Van Zandt, the blaze-of-glory songwriting legend who mentored Earle during their time together in Austin during the 70’s and 80’s.
Apparently Earle wasn’t content with just, oh, naming his first-born son after Van Zandt. Still, it’s a good thing he’s doing his part with this tribute album thing, because he’s probably going to be the subject of a few himself in another decade or so.
buy tickets onlineThe acclaimed local folk duo and their new rock and roll backing band give your fireworks a soundtrack.
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Three Steps Out The Door [live]
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Passing Through
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Train Song
Carleigh Nesbit - Three Steps Out The Door
Carleigh Nesbit - River Run Dry
Carleigh Nesbit - Turn On The Heat
Carleigh Nesbit - Your City Skies
One is a rock band with folk flavors, and the other is a folk duo moving in a rock-oriented direction, but both were favorites in our last music issue.
The Hill And Wood - I Can Say What You Want
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Three Steps Out The Door [live]
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Passing Through
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Train Song
Carleigh Nesbit - Three Steps Out The Door
Carleigh Nesbit - River Run Dry
Carleigh Nesbit - Turn On The Heat
Carleigh Nesbit - Your City Skies
Acclaimed local folk duo with a new rock band backdrop
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Three Steps Out The Door [live]
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Passing Through
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Train Song
Carleigh Nesbit - Three Steps Out The Door
Carleigh Nesbit - River Run Dry
Carleigh Nesbit - Turn On The Heat
Carleigh Nesbit - Your City Skies
Folk duo Carl Anderson and Carleigh Nesbit perform on the patio in 106.1’s Live and Local concert series with the hot new backing band that made them favorites among the experts in our last music issue.
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Three Steps Out The Door [live]
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Passing Through
Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson - Train Song
Carleigh Nesbit - Three Steps Out The Door
Carleigh Nesbit - River Run Dry
Carleigh Nesbit - Turn On The Heat
Carleigh Nesbit - Your City Skies
Coldplayey pop-rock quartet.
The Honors - Side Effects
The Honors - Parade
The Honors - Ghosts
Also featuring local indie rock trio Astronomers.
Astronomers - The Singularity
Astronomers - Strategem
Astronomers - Shoes
Astronomers - Perpetual Emotion
Astronomers - Or Maybe It’s Nothing
Astronomers - My Hologram
Astronomers - Fermata
Donny Hue and the Colors paint indie-folk landscapes with guitars, harmonicas, and such. Also featuring Detroit rockers The High Strung, whose recently released fourth album was produced by the same guy responsible for Broken Social Scene and Los Campesinos!.
The High Strung - Standing At The Door Of Self-Discovery
The High Strung - Real Stone
The High Strung - Guilt Is How I’m Built
Philadelphia indie rockers Pattern Is Movement are sometimes called “math rock,” which is an oft-misapplied term of dubious merit, but the most intriguing math here is that the original five-piece lineup that first started turning heads has since dropped down to just the duo of drummer Chris Ward and singer-keyboardist Andrew Thiboldeaux.
Pattern Is Movement - Bird
Pattern Is Movement - Right Away
[See also: Daytrotter]
Here, they’ll take a break from their current gig opening and serving as the backing band for it-girl guitarist Annie Clark and split off into a headlining show of their own where they say they’ll be able to road-test some new material Local indie rock quartet Drunk Tigers is on board to warm the crowd up beforehand.
Drunk Tigers - Overland [live]
Drunk Tigers - Long Bored [live]
Drunk Tigers - Outer Banks Inner Peace [live]
Drunk Tigers - Winter Party [live]
Drunk Tigers - Sirens [live]
Being that they took top honors in A Prairie Home Companion’s “Talented Twenty-Something” contest around this time last year, it’s a little hard to believe that the local acoustic folk duo The Honey Dewdrops didn’t have an album until recently. If The Sun Will Shine came out on May 16, and this is the band’s first show in C-ville since then. The songs were mostly written after the contest (which is to say, after it became clear that expectations were high), and were recorded at home — which at the time was, fittingly enough, an old barn in Scottsville built in the 1920’s.
The Honey Dewdrops - Nowhere To Stand
The Honey Dewdrops - Fly Away Free
Trent Wagler brings his usual folk, rock, gospel, and Americana to one of the opening slots alongside Erik The Red.
The local songwriter jams out with busybody local guitarist Tucker Rogers. He used this duo format heavily on the 2006 record Rough Around The Edges, but that album also featured live tracks recorded with his full backing band, and it’s the latter that’s featured on 5 Live, the new live EP he’ll be previewing here.
William Walter and Company - Sunflower [live]
William Walter and Company - All The Best [live]
William Walter and Company - Alright [live]
William Walter and Company - Border Crosser [live]
William Walter and Company - Myspace
Guitarist Paul Dempsey used to play around these parts thirty years or so ago, and these days his trio project with drummer Phil Riddle focuses on songs written by his late brother as a memorial of sorts, as well as other rootsy folk tunes animated by jazz, Caribbean and Celtic influences delivered by guitars, guitar synths, dobro, mandolin, and percussion.
Out Of A Blue Sky - Three Chords and the Truth
Out Of A Blue Sky - Tenderly
Out Of A Blue Sky - Kitchen Of Our Minds
Out Of A Blue Sky - Blue Heart
Multi-instrumentalist Matty Metcalfe wrangles his accordion with the New Orleans spirit of guys like Professor Longhair, Allan Toussaint, and the Meters, among others.
Matty Metcalfe - Big Chief
Matty Metcalfe - Chez Seychelles
Matty Metcalfe - Happy Two-Step
Bluesy roots-rock
The Rogan Brothers - Into The Light
The Rogan Brothers - Heartbeat
The Rogan Brothers - Hang Tough
Jimmy Buffett cover band; catch dinner at 6 before the music starts at 7.
Rock, Western Swing, and whatever lies between
Endcap to the University’s five-day festival
Summery island tunes featuring a guest appearance by Hornsby sax player Bobby Read
The DOWNbeat Project - I Want You [live at Is Venue]
The DOWNbeat Project - Heaven
Already, Hulu offers several DMB offerings including a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the band’s seventh studio album, including commentary from bassist Stefan Lessard, shown here.Hulu.com, the upstart free tv and movie service, plans to stream its first live concert, and the chosen act is Charlottesville’s own Dave Matthews Band.
The New York Times tells the tale of the June 1 concert at New York’s Beacon Theater.
While Hulu is streaming, cable music channel Fuse will reportedly do likewise– commercial free.
The band lost saxophone player LeRoi Moore last year after an ATV accident, so the new album will be the last to carry his distinctive stylings. The album is set for a June 2 release.
Long after his new-wave fusion band’s heyday in the 1980’s, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne is still an astonishingly relevant cultural figure. His spastic dancing on Stop Making Sense is still hailed as some of the greatest concert film footage this side of Martin Scorsese, and even beyond his solo albums, the one-time RISD student is also an enthusiastic blogger and DJ and recently converted a New York City warehouse into a giant interactive instrument.
Last year, thirty years after they first collaborated on More Songs About Buildings And Food, Byrne again joined up with legendary British producer Brian Eno for Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, which blended Byrne’s folk and pop vocals with Eno’s acclaimed electronic backdrops, working remotely via audio files ping-ponged over the internet.
Says Byrne:
These harmonic foundations of some of these songs are often like those of traditional folk songs, country songs or gospel before some of those styles got harmonically sophisticated. Brian’s chord structures were like nothing I would have chosen by myself, so I was pushed in a new direction, challenged. This, of course, was good- as the challenge wasn’t so much technical as emotional- a challenge to write simple but not corny, basic but heartfelt. The results, in many cases, were uplifting, hopeful and positive- even though there were lyrics about cars exploding, war and similarly dark scenarios.
Fittingly, once it was finally finished, it was also released online for direct sales and downloads, much to the delight of his various blog-buddies. The same goes for the accompanying live EP released just before this tour, proceeds from which will benefit Amnesty International.
Also, be sure to stop by The Box afterward for an after-party hosted by Adam Smith. The first 50 folks to show up buy a drink will get a custom, almost-certainly-unauthorized Byrne T-shirt printed by local artist Thomas Deane!
For the first time in 30 years, the Ash Lawn Opera Festival will be held indoors.After 30 years under the stars at Ash Lawn-Highland, the Ash Lawn Opera Festival is finally moving inside. Today, the opera company announced that its 2009 summer productions of Camelot and The Marriage of Figaro will be presented at the Paramount Theater beginning on July 3.
So will Ash Lawn Opera take root at the Paramount?
“We don’t know if it will be a permanent home,” says opera company director Judy Walker.
Last August, the company announced with great excitement that it was partnering with music mogul Coran Capshaw in the renovation of the Jefferson Theater, and embarking on a $4.5 million capital campaign to fund an orchestra pit, dressing rooms, and advanced acoustics (which included a silent-running HVAC system) for the building. But six months later (more)
In its first week of sales, Parachute’s debut album Losing Sleep made it to #40 on the Billboard albums chart.After nearly a year of anticipation, the numbers are finally in, and a Charlottesville-based band’s debut album is officially a hit. Members of Parachute learned Thursday, May 21 that Losing Sleep entered at #40 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.
“It’s way better than we had expected,” says frontman Will Anderson. “We had a day off, so we were all in different places when we found out, and we were texting each other like crazy.”
The news comes a week after the album got an early release on the iTunes Music Store, and quickly shot to #1 on the digital vendor’s charts. This was due in part to the strength of the band’s second single “Under Control,” which iTunes offered as a free download for the week.
According to Anderson, seeing his band’s name atop of the iTunes chart was a stunning moment.
“When we went #1 on iTunes,” says Anderson, “that was a (more)
The Gourds look back at their 15 year career as a “musical scrapbook”.For Austin, Texas-based country rockers The Gourds, looking back at their past 15 years of jamming is akin to leafing through a musical scrapbook– their ascension to a nationally-recognized roots rock band has been full of stumbles and successes. But one thing has yet to change: their desire to impart some meaning into the honky-tonk genre.
“It’s a nice balance we’ve been able to achieve, between simplified progression and more complex melodies, hooks, lyrics,” bassist and vocalist Jimmy Smith says. “Listen to the lyrics and that’s where you get your payoff.”
Maybe you’ve heard their countrified cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” (which was for some time inaccurately credited as a Phish song– and that Snoop reportedly liked). Or you might have heard their name alongside the likes of the Avett Brothers or the Hackensaw Boys.
The early 2009 release, Haymaker!, indicated a turning point for The Gourds– instead of rocking out to a record full of singles, the album created more of a narrative, with characters and storylines dominating songs. In “Luddite,” the band croons, “I am just a Luddite / Gimme some Luddite juice / Machinery replaced me / They had to cut me loose”– intertwining a catchy country tune with satirical introspection.
“Everyone likes a good story,” Smith explains. “It’s a challenge (more)
Benjamin Weikel, left, and Brandon Summers, right, head to C’ville from the Portland scene.After a six-month tour ripped up Brandon Summers’ vocal chords, the guitarist and lead vocalist for the Portland, Oregon indie-rock duo The Helio Sequence was forced to sit in silence for six months on doctor’s orders– unable to contemplate life and his future singing career uncertain. He took the usual derailed-musician path to drinking heavily and sulking; but after reading a biography on folk icon Bob Dylan, Summers embraced a new regimented lifestyle– retraining his voice for hours, exercising, and shifting the sound of The Helio Sequence from pop-rock to bluegrass-influenced.
The resulting album, Keep Your Eyes Ahead, showcased a new direction for the indie-rockers. Summers, along with drummer Benjamin Weikel, had previous alternative rock and pop cred from years of touring with alt-rock headliners Modest Mouse and Keane– thus this new album and sound caught the attention of the music world, challenging any mainstream labeling of the duo.
The band, now on tour again with Keane after Summers regained his vocal health, continues to consciously challenge musical labels and tags by meshing acoustic influences with glitzy pop-rock.
The Hook: When did you and Benjamin realize (more)
The twisted humor of foul-mouthed and generally subversive local guitar/cello duo Barling and Collins is right at home on the dark and grimy stage at Miller’s, but Applebee’s? More venues for local musicians to perform in are always welcome, but this wasn’t quite what we had in mind. In an attempt to ratchet up the absurdity level here, we’ve decided to commemorate these occasions with haikus dedicated to the soulless corporate restaurant chain.
This week’s poem comes to us from special guest Haikusta Kate Malay, a former Hook food writer:
Is that a “salad?”
Or 2,000 calories
Of fat and lettuce?
See you next week, folks!
Barling and Collins - (That’s Right) I’m Looking At Your Girlfriend
The twisted humor of foul-mouthed and generally subversive local guitar/cello duo Barling and Collins is right at home on the dark and grimy stage at Miller’s, but Applebee’s? More venues for local musicians to perform in are always welcome, but this wasn’t quite what we had in mind. In an attempt to ratchet up the absurdity level here, we’ve decided to commemorate these occasions with haikus dedicated to the soulless corporate restaurant chain.
Off we go, then:
I know you like shrimp.
Wanna know why I hate them?
That black line — it’s poop!
See you next week, folks!
Barling and Collins - (That’s Right) I’m Looking At Your Girlfriend
Performers include Ned Oldham, Sam Wilson, Darrell Rose and Jim Waive.
Sam Wilson - A Melody Instead
Sam Wilson - In The Morning
Sam Wilson - Once In Your Life
Sam Wilson - Green Gates
Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees - Strike A Match
Local guitarist Tucker Rogers winds down the weekly C-ville Music Showcase and turns it into a monthly event. Featuring Gene Osborn of Straight Punch To The Crotch, Q*Black, and Travis Elliott.
Space Cadet 7 - Killer Octopus
If humility is a virtue, local bluegrass icon Jamie Dyer is swimming in it. Before even considering answering any questions about his long-running Americana band, the Hogwaller Ramblers, he enthusiastically peppers a reporter with questions of his own. Arguably one of the most interesting people in town– ask him a question on any local topic and don’t be surprised to get a deep, poignant, or satire-spewed response– Dyer and his Ramblers have been a fixture in the local music scene for decades.
“I am the luckiest musician in the world,” Dyer says. “I get to write songs and play my songs, unmolested and undisturbed.”
Whether or not luck had anything to do with it, Dyer jumped into the music scene twenty years ago, playing on the Downtown Mall with a group of friends. While the band’s membership has fluctuated throughout the years, Dyer’s passion for making down-home Americana has not. The Ramblers’ current lineup includes a variety of musical backgrounds and influences — including a classically-trained violinist and a country-blues guitarist — which all mesh to create something Dyer is only willing to call simply “American music.”
Dyer’s vision for the band has never wavered: it’s always been about good friends making good music, and nothing more. Cross-country tours and high-profile record labels don’t interest him. Similarly, if you ask him about his legendary stature in the local music scene– Dyer has been involved in local music since before the Dave Matthews Band hit it big– he brushes it aside. “My only motivation has been that I want to play music with my friends,” Dyer says.
When they’re not at Fridays After Five, the Hogs have a long-running Sunday night residency at Fellini’s and a new afternoon gig at Maya in the works. After Fridays, the band will play at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival in September and the Crozet Music Festival in October. In between, Dyer promises he’ll be “playing in my living room most every night.” Possibly forever.
The Hogwaller Ramblers perform at Fridays After Five on 5/22. The show starts at 5:30pm and admission is free.
90-some members in a 90-year-old ensemble
buy tickets online
Country and folk from guitarist Sabra Guzman’s Americana quartet. Also featuring impressively schooled pop songwriter Anna Vogelzang and multi-instrumentalist Emily Hope Price, who has recently worked with Hold Steady keyboard player Franz Nicolay.
The Flat Iron String Band - Bonaparte Crossing Into Russia
Anna Vogelzang - America Hugs
Anna Vogelzang - Toy Boat
Anna Vogelzang - Imaginary Babies
Local indie rockers. Also featuring the more acoustically-oriented Adam Finchler and David Greenberg
Mark your calendar. The Hook is joining forces with 106.1 FM The Corner to give away free CDs. It’s the latest New Music Sampler with tracks from Ryan Adams, Carbon Leaf, Neko Case, Ben Harper– and even the Indigo Girls. The giveaway happens this Wednesday, May 20 in front of the Hook office at the Second Street Auto crossing over the Downtown Mall around 3:30pm for an hour or so.
The retro uke tunes of adorable Malaysian singer-songwriter poppet Zee Avi were a hot ticket at SXSW this spring after her enthusiastic stream of homemade YouTube videos won her a viral following which led to a deal with Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records. Uncle Jemima opens.
Retro folk and blues. Also featuring Carlton James and the Klimaxxx Mountain String Band.
Pokey LaFarge - Sweet Seventeen
This show pairs the popular local folk duo with Loxsly, a five-piece indie-pop band from Austin which the Tea House folks expect will thrill fans of the former with their synth lines and their songs about humankind’s conflicts with technology. Anyone who starts the night with Terminator: Salvation gets extra credit.
Birdlips - Tire Chains
Birdlips - Some Kind Of Death
Loxsly - Battalions
Acclaimed indie pop-rock quartet which bolsters their melodic lines with folk-pop influences and intricate instrumental ornamentation. Also featuring Order of the Dying Orchid and Americans In France.
Solo set from the man who brought you the Nice Jenkins and Gunchux.
The critically acclaimed quintet Tiger! Tiger! was left as one of the leaders in Atlanta’s garage rock scene when the Black Lips got too big for their britches. Also featuring the driving Americana of Pantherburn.
Pantherburn - The Octopus
Pantherburn - Mister Baby [demo]
Energetic hip hop from one of the Illville Crew rappers
Chaotic punk rock at its finest. Also featuring local rockers Order of the Dying Orchid.
The hip hop fusion band bids farewell to departing drummer Granville Mullings.
The Blackout Project - Future Celebrity
The Blackout Project - What We’ve Become
The Blackout Project - Sew The Seams
Also featuring Psycho Circus and Post No Bills.
You probably know Ted Pitney because of his work with King Wilkie, possibly from his duo performances with Sarah White, and if you’re really paying attention, maybe even via the song he fed to the John Paul Jones-produced all-girl old-time band Uncle Earl back in 2007. But now he’s finally taking the wheel for his own project, temporarily just self-titled pending a kick-ass band name, which will feature appearances from local heavyweights like drummer Brian Caputo and guitarist Brian Chenault.
Singer-songwriter Joia Wood opens, and classically trained string-man Wes Swing closes out the night.
Joia Wood - To Do [featuring Trees On Fire]
Wes Swing - Lullaby
Earlier this year, the Dave Matthews Band was holed up in New Orleans working on their upcoming new album, and local audio wizard and blues-rock guitar player Joe Lawlor was along for the ride. That’s how he ended up meeting New Orleans musicians like
West Bank Mike and drummer Jermel Watson in late night jam sessions, and to hear Andy Waldeck tell it, when a couple XPS members went down to visit for a combined celebration of Mardi Gras and Joe’s birthday, the music was totally out-of-control awesome; even Flecktone and current DMB touring sax player Jeff Coffin was inspired enough to sit in. Now it’s time to bring the New Orleans guys up here; West Bank Mike and Watson will be in town for a slew of recording sessions and this show.
Teenage rockers. Also featuring Searching For Timothy and Before The Machine.
buy tickets onlineLocal guitarist and cellist make fun of pretty much everything
Barling and Collins - (That’s Right) I’m Looking At Your Girlfriend
Alt-country
Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees - Strike A Match
Big blob o’alt-country: Jesse Fiske and Ferd Moyse should be entirely too busy for this being that they already play with the Hackensaw Boys and their roles in Megan Huddleston’s Mister Baby band are now quite significant, but here they’ll also be playing a one-off opening set with a new old-time trio. Local guitarist Carlton James opens.
The fourth show from the fairly fresh local indie rock quartet featuring members of Order of the Dying Orchid, Truman Sparks, and Cataract Camp. Also featuring Julius C and funky trumpet-driven Brooklyn trio Apollo Run.
Drunk Tigers - Overland [live]
Drunk Tigers - Long Bored [live]
Drunk Tigers - Outer Banks Inner Peace [live]
Drunk Tigers - Winter Party [live]
Drunk Tigers - Sirens [live]
Top 40 country. Steve Azar and Keith Anderson open.
Benyaro is an acoustic quartet, now with a new bassist, led by a brother-sister duo with a soft spot for classic folk-rock in the vein of CSNY.
Benyaro - Humble Child
Benyaro - Time To Kill
Benyaro - Bullet-Like Belief
Benyaro - Feelin’ Low
Also featuring songwriter Alana Sveta, who just happened to be born on the 41st anniversary of the first-ever atomic bomb detonation in New Mexico in the very same town used as the testing site, and local country guitarist Carlton James, whose back-story isn’t anywhere near as creepy, at least as far as we know.
Positive reggae; DBBC says “the last time these guys visited they almost shook the growlers off our shelves.”
Whatever “Appalachian folk-core” might be, North Carolina quintet The New Familiars used it to win the annual “best local band” award from the late Creative Loafing in Charlotte. Also featuring Captain #1 and The Raquellos.
The New Familiars - The Storm [live]
The New Familiars - The Fall Of Icarus [live]
The New Familiars - Got This Disease/The Weight
The New Familiars - Mill’s River [live]
Like C-ville’s own Jdavyd Williams, who you might have seen at the Tea Bazaar recently, Krishna Das sings Hindu “kirtan” devotional chants with occasional modern influences, most notably swapping out the monotonous drone of the harmonium for more active chord progressions, all of which led him to a 1998 collaboration with Sting and some of the strongest kirtan sales figures in the western world.
Area musicians including Ralph “Honeyboy” Rush, Burnley Station , Andre Hakes, and Kate Hanson perform at a benefit concert for the research fund established after UVA fourth-year student Jennifer Wells died of meningitis in 2006.
Classically-trained jazz singer with echoes of both opera and Ella.
Adorable rock band from Richmond
Surf-rock
Surfzilla - The Joker’s Wild
Surfzilla - The Jester
Surfzilla - GooGoo Muck
Surfzilla - Failsafe
Surfzilla - Cecilia Ann
Surfzilla - Apache
Paddy Keenan is often called “The Jimi Hendrix of the uilleann pipes,” but it’s unlikely that he’ll actually be lighting his on fire tonight. One can always hope, but if not, this show will also feature guitarist John Walsh and former Prism director Fred Boyce on banjo, and is definitely worth the drive to Lovingston either way.
Georgia-based multi-instrumentalist Moira Nelligan plays Irish folk and Celtic music with a southern twist, and her teenage son Mickey joins in on guitar. As usual, your $20 ticket includes dinner.
Local rockers follow up their opening slot at Fridays After Five with a gig all their own. Boston Americana-rock quartet Girls Guns and Glory opens.
Raw Dawg - Alibi
Raw Dawg - Dig
Raw Dawg - HOI
Duo performance from the jammy pop-rock singer-songwriter and the legendary local mandolin player.
This local indie-folk quartet, awesomely/morbidly named after the funeral home on Market Street, was one the favorites in our annual music issue this year. Arizona pop singer Stephen Steinbrink opens.
The Hill And Wood - I Can Say What You Want
Female-fronted Austin math rock trio inspired by Battles and Tortoise, among others. Also featuring local indie rockers Astronomers.
Megafauna - Fun At The Apocalypse
Astronomers - The Singularity
Astronomers - Strategem
Astronomers - Shoes
Astronomers - Perpetual Emotion
Astronomers - Or Maybe It’s Nothing
Astronomers - My Hologram
Astronomers - Fermata
Local folk duo
Scuffletown - Barcelona, Someday
Scuffletown - Crazy Wind
Scuffletown - All These Roads Lead Out Of Town
Scuffletown - Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler
To absolutely nobody’s surprise, local pop-rock band Parachute’s impressive reign of pleasant, mid-tempo terror over the iTunes Music Store’s sales charts came to an end today when Green Day showed up with their latest half-baked rock opera, 21st Century Breakdown, and knocked them down to #2. Parachute’s sales figures might get another boost on May 19, when distribution of physical discs kicks in, but the chances of them unseating the pop-punk O.G.’s are, of course, infinitesimal.
Also worth a look: Entertainment Weekly’s amusing take.
…an entirely decent entry in the Dave Matthews/Jack Johnson/Jason Mraz school of heartfelt male songdom — the kind girls adore, but guys can still manfully enjoy, in part because it helps to seduce said girls
Hip-hop artist will.i.am is a big enough deal to star in a Super Bowl commercial with Bob Dylan, write and perform a song about President Obama that became an election-influencing Internet sensation, and even become the first celebrity to get hologrammed by CNN. Yet even Mr. “Yes We Can” himself cannot get Virginia voters excited about the 2009 election six months before Election Day. According to the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, only 30 people showed up to the Black Eyed Peas frontman’s appearance with gubernatorial candidate and former Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe on Monday, May 11. Attendance was a little better at the pair’s rally in Richmond later that day, where 80 people showed up according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. –photo courtesy Organizing for America/file photo by Lindsay Barnes
As a result of their their primo placement, the free teaser track, and their two TV spots, Parachute’s new album Losing Sleep debuted at #1 on the iTunes Music Store’s sales charts yesterday, ahead of much-hyped new discs from Cam’ron, Steve Earle, and, well, everyone else. While that’s not quite as significant as, say, Soundscan figures or the Billboard charts, Apple’s download service surpassed Wal-Mart in sales back in February 2008 to become the largest music retailer in the country.
In addition, the corny-webcam-YouTube-covers-by-Asian-kids-with-acoustic-guitars index seems to indicate that these guys are going to be huge.
Update: They’re now #1 on iTunes!
The big single from Red Light-managed local band Parachute is this week’s featured free download in the iTunes Music Store. This is not inconsequential placement, as other artists recently featured in this space include Mastodon, K’Naan, and Passion Pit; and local songwriter Shannon Worrell also got some love from the digital download service last fall.
Nancy Wilson, second from left, and Ann Wilson, far right, emerged as the most prominent female rock’n'roll artists in the 1970s.Heart has been rocking hard for over three decades, but leading sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson don’t seem to be slowing down.
After exploding onto the stage in 1976 with a debut album that produced three chart-making hits including the now-classic “Magic Man” and “Crazy on You”, the band went on to record nine albums achieving gold or platinum status.
“Being taken seriously as front-people in a band was difficult, especially at the beginning,” Nancy Wilson says. “We were like a novelty at first.”
While they may have taken the world a bit by surprise, their powerful guitar riffs and passionate voices have struck a chord with fans and fellow bands that they landed a spot on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” in 2005.
Co-founder Nancy Wilson recently spoke with the Hook.
The Hook: What inspired such a passion for rock in the first place?
Nancy Wilson: We were sort of bowled over when we first saw The Beatles as little kids on TV. We got inspired and spent the rest of our lives aiming ourselves like pistols in that direction.
The Hook: What kinds of challenges had to be overcome in order to be taken seriously as female rockers?
NW: It was hard to be taken seriously, there was a perception that girls don’t do that kind of stuff. Even know, there are looks on guys’ faces who (more)
Local rock gig The Kings of Belmont.Local rockers The Kings of Belmont are a band for the true Charlottesville townie. Just look at the lineup– the five members have strong roots to town, all born and raised in C’ville’s diverse music scene.
“We’re a C’ville band,” drummer John Spagnolo says. “We’re townies, we haven’t broken into the student scene, we don’t get mixed up in playing the Corner or frats.”
Although their previous Fridays After Five performance was dubbed a co-bill, with the Kings sharing the stage with local band 6 Day Bender, this time around KOB will have full reign of the Pavilion. Which is good because according to guitarist Max Collins, having only a few hours to perform is just a warmup for this raucous band. “We usually play for three hours straight, with no breaks,” he says.
Today’s incarnation of the band is a mix between two separate, yet interconnected acts that emerged in 2006: a two-man band composed of guitarist Ross van Brocklin and keyboardist Aaron Ahlbrandt and the Ween tribute band, Peen, that four of the five current members had played in from time to time.
In early 2007, the five locals joined together under the moniker The Kings of Belmont– symbolic of their practice pad in Belmont and a long-running joke between van Brocklin and Ahlbrandt– and began honing their skills as a serious contribution to the local music community.
“When we started as Peen, we were a very green band– we learned a lot about each other through the process,” van Brocklin says.
“When we started KOB, one thing that I was surprised with was how quickly we got better and better,” Collins continues, “proportional to the time we were practicing.”
While Charlottesville may have its hands full with rockers, KOB insists its brand of rock’n'roll stays true to the traditional line of development modern rock has gone through. From biting, pop culture-laden satire to blues-inspired, softer ballads, KOB likes nothing more than the element of surprise.
“What is rock? I look back at blues stuff, which is really a derivation of bluegrass stuff, celtic tunes.” Collins says. “We try and cover all genres.”
But will an intense stage presence and occasionally PG lyrics translate to a successful Fridays After Five gig? These “weekend warriors” admit they make little effort to sell CDs, aren’t trying to get signed, and are content to jam when they can.
“In the fall, we’re going to slow down a little bit on playing live stuff,” Collins says. “It’s great to be able to go out and travel, but it’s hard also when everyone has their own lives in Charlottesville.”
The Kings of Belmont play Fridays After Five on 5/15. Earl Knox opens. Show starts at 5:30 pm and admission is free.
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Ever since former Hook cover boys Parachute landed that big buzzed-about record deal with Mercury/Smash/Universal two years back, the game has mostly been “wait and see” while the guys finished college and the label set up the promo machine.
Well, no longer: they’re in coming on strong these days in support of the major-label debut album Losing Sleep, what with the Nivea commercials that reportedly led to their hairpin-trigger name changes, the strikingly slick video for “She Is Love” which debuted a month ago and is currently getting some love from VH1 and MTVu, their raving fans, and their front-page placement and #1 debut on iTunes. Then there’s the current tour, which follows up this Music Resource Center date with a nationally televised appearance on CBS and a set at New York City’s venerable Knitting Factory.
If you don’t make it to this, at least consider cracking open a celebratory drink in their honor while giving one more spin to the One Small Step EP, the early record made while they were an up-and-coming local band on which they draped a horn section over their ode to Police drummer Stewart Copeland and totally nailed the title track.
Or, alternatively, pour out a little of your 40, since that’s also where they declared their intentions to be indie rockers. Your choice.
Acclaimed folk songwriter Will Oldham is a hot commodity these days as much because of his sharp lyrics as because of his ambitious recent spurt of activity: “Lie Down In The Light” came out almost exactly a year ago, and that’s now three albums back. Beware, the new disc released last month, is a throwback set which approaches “outlaw country,” but it sure feels odd to apply that phrase to a guy who was lip-syncing and gyrating in a Kanye video not too long ago.
Proceeds benefit Fry’s Spring Beach Club.
Any old-fogey classic-rock geek will tell you that the intro to Heart’s “Crazy On You” is easily one of the coolest damn things ever played on a guitar by a chick. (We mean that in the least sexist way possible, seriously, but perhaps with a moderate amount of ageism.)
Thankfully, the band is finding a a whole new non-fogey audience thanks to lucky strokes like, um, the song’s placement in Guitar Hero and, er, Fergie’s spot-on mimicry of “Barracuda” for the Shrek 2 soundtrack. (Yes, yes, all dubious victories, but look, they’re kids. You have to take what you can get or else they’ll all end up listening to Yeasayer.)
“These Dreams” is still tragically overlooked, though, at least once you get past the 80’s-reverb cheese. Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all.
Andy Waldeck opens.
Andy Waldeck - Those Days Are Gone
Andy Waldeck - Ordinary Men
Andy Waldeck - Diggin Me
Andy Waldeck - Healing
