me::title_else
My Schedule
12:00 PM
to 4:00 PM
Etsy: Awesome in Austin
183 schedule::attendees
Location
Venue 222
eventtype Unofficial Party
event::about
Put on your craftin' hat and join Etsy at Venue 222 for an afternoon of creative making. We'll teach you how to make cool gadget cozies for all your tech gear, do some button-making, screenprint, and give you a chance to upcycle your SXSW gift bag into something awesome and unique. Plus, come meet and chat with the Etsy team and stay afterwards for other fun surprises (and swag!).
Meet, chat, mingle, and make. We'll be at Venue 222 all weekend with more workshops, panels, parties, and more.
Website http://etsy.me/etsyaustin
10:30 PM
to 11:10 PM
Black Joe Lewis
80 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Black Joe Lewis
event::about
Ning Presents... Mogwee Live @ The Mohawk
The Official SXSWi Opening Night After Party
Doors open at 8pm. First come first serve. Arrive early!
Website http://go.ning.com/sxsw
7:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Quintron & Ms. Pussycat
37 schedule::attendees
Location
Venue 222
eventtype Unofficial Party, Unofficial Music
event::about
Electroclash 'tude, stupid/funny chant-alongs, and awesome puppetry. You won't be able to stop dancing when Quintron and Miss Pussycat (http://www.quintronandmisspussycat.com) take the stage at 7pm. Raw, original, but sometimes unpracticed and distracted, Quintron and Miss Pussycat make great parties.
Come drink, dance, meet, and play at Etsy's last party at SXSW. Stay for DIY fashion show hosted by the folks from BurdaStyle and then get ready for an awesome set hosted by the original "iPad DJ" DJ Rana June for a party that won't stop 'til it's over.
Website http://etsy.me/etsyaustin
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Ted Leo
80 schedule::attendees
Location
Venue 222
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
This is a free show being hosted by Wearcast.
Wearcast is a simple way to take a thought, statement and expression and turn it into a designer quality t-shirt instantly. No design skills are required and its as easy as sending a tweet or updating your Facebook status.
11:00 PM
to 12:30 AM
The Hood Internet
89 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
The Hood Internet
event::about
theMIX agency presents: #thePARTY 4 #thePEOPLE @SXSW 2011 w/ Friendly Fires (DJ set), The Hood Internet, Millionyoung (DJ set) + more.
Last year, we brought Holy Ghost! and Classixx to the Speakeasy Rooftop. This year, we have something more reminiscent of a festival than a party. The Mohawk is about to explode.
Badges/wristbands welcome.
This event will reach capacity. Purchasing a pre-sale is the only way to guarantee entry.
Follow @theMIXagency for free giveaways, contests, and up to the minute info.
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
The Sounds
157 schedule::attendees
Location
PureVolume House
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Surfer Blood
409 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
eventtype Music
Artists Surfer Blood
event::about Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, the quintet known as Surfer Blood had a breakout year in 2010 with the release of their debut album 'Astro Coast' in January 2010. Months prior to the actual release, Surfer Blood took the CMJ music festival by storm playing an incredible 12 shows. Spending the winter months leading up to their album release, Surfer Blood criss-crossed the nation on tour supporting Japandroids and Art Brut. Never breaking straight into the new year, getting a major boost from all around rave press reviews, including a 'Best New Music' tag from Pitchfork Media, the band continued their incessant touring. This year has taken these Floridians across Europe several times, as far as Japan for Summer Sonic and Australia for Splendour in the Grass festivals; they ended out the year with a support tour for Interpol. Because of their dedication, 12 months later Astro Coast is topping several year end lists. NPR deemed them "America's best new pop band", they made Rolling Stone's "Rookies of the Year" list, Filter Magazine listed their album as #7 of the year, plus making the list of numerous others: MySpace, NME, Urban Outfitters, Rough Trade Shop. Based on the longevity that the album stayed in PopMatter's rotation, they regard it as "unfuckwithable" and PrefixMag said, "Surfer Blood is the best '90s band working today." For 2011, Surfer Blood will return with an EP of new tunes to be released in late spring. More touring will inevitably ensue.
event::tags All Ages
12:30 PM
to 1:15 PM
Hurray for the Riff Raff
35 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar
eventtype Unofficial Music
Artists Grass Widow, Hurray for the Riff Raff, JEFF The Brotherhood, Obits, Ty Segall, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
12:30 - Hurray for the Riff Raff (eMusic Selects)
1:15 - Grass Widow (Kill Rock Stars)
2:00 - JEFF the Brotherhood (Infinity Cat)
2:45 - Ty Segall (Goner)
3:30 - Obits (Sub Pop)
4:15 - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)
event::about
Beat the mad rush and hear the week's best bands early at eMusic's SXSW Day Party. We've got a Beauty Bar bill custom-built to amaze.
Space is limited, so inclusion on the guest list will be first-come, first-served. RSVP now! The list closes Tuesday, March 1st. We'll send a confirmation by March 4th.
From 12-2PM, we'll have free food and drinks for you and your guest, plus surprises and eMusic swag. More importantly: you'll get to hear some of the most exciting bands in independent music.
Must be 21 years or older to attend.
event::tags Music
2:00 PM
to 2:30 PM
The Civil Wars
116 schedule::attendees
Location
The Stage on Sixth (formerly Radio Room)
2:45 PM
to 3:10 PM
The Spinto Band
70 schedule::attendees
Location
Red Eyed Fly
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Tiger Mountain and Noise Pop present BROOKLYN VS. THE BAY
4:20 PM
to 5:20 PM
The Civil Wars
81 schedule::attendees
Location
threadgills world headquarters
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
The Civil Wars
event::about
It is Year 4, as once again Music Fog takes the stage in the Saloon Room at Threadgill's WHQ(AKA&. the back room, on the stage against the ruby velvet curtains,) 301 W. Riverside, in South Austin TX. It is an unofficial showcase so no badges or wristbands are necessary, just a desire to eat some good ole homemade food, and see some cooking music. We at Music Fog put the four day schedule together, and our video cameras will be rolling as we gather content for www.musicfog.com. Most times we do our thing behind closed doors, but this gig, we invite you to come and hang in the room for our taping. The Music Fog Motto, after all, is "How Hard Could It Be&.." and the answer, at least when we come to Threadgills is, "Pretty Damn Easy!" What with onsite parking, air conditioning, any drink of any color that you might want, Southern home-style fare with loads of vegetables, and the ever important indoor plumbing with those fancy new 'no hands towel machines. I don't know, they just intrigue me! And really, why would you even think of going anywhere else?
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
Brett Dennen
107 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists Brett Dennen
event::about Brett Dennen is a talented folk/pop singer and songwriter from Northern California. Named by Rolling Stone Magazine as an “Artist to Watch” and identified as one of Entertainment Weekly’s eight "Guys on the Rise," Brett’s narrative-rich and timeless songwriting has garnered instant critical praise and the adoration of music supervisors who have featured his music on popular television programs such as House, Grey’s Anatomy, and Scrubs. Brett has headlined every major city in the United States, Europe and Australia and has been hand-picked by a "who's who" of his contemporaries including John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and Dave Matthews to support tours. His fourth album, Loverboy is due out in April 2011.
event::tags All Ages
5:30 PM
to 6:00 PM
7:00 PM
to 2:00 AM
BrooklynVegan SXSW Official Showcase
367 schedule::attendees
Location
Swan Dive
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
8:00 PM Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
9:00 PM Olof Arnalds
10:00 PM Ted Leo (solo)
11:00 PM Sam Amidon
12:00 AM Sharon Van Etten
1:00 AM Evan Voytas
event::about
We are excited to announce the very special lineup of the 2011 BrooklynVegan SXSW Official Showcase which will take place Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at the new and swanky Swan Dive in Austin, TX. Full details, including lineup and set times are below.
BrooklynVegan SXSW Official Showcase
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
at Swan Dive - 615 Red River St, Austin, TX
7 PM - 2 AM
8:00 PM Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
9:00 PM Olof Arnalds
10:00 PM Ted Leo (solo)
11:00 PM Sam Amidon
12:00 AM Sharon Van Etten
1:00 AM Evan Voytas
Ticket Information: Free entry for a limited number of SXSW badgeholders (first come, first served). Tickets for non-badgeholders will be available for purchase at the door (price TBD).
Additional info here: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/02/sxsw_2011_-_bro.html
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Gold Motel
48 schedule::attendees
Location
Billboard Bungalow @ Buffalo Billiards
eventtype Music
Artists Gold Motel
event::about With GOLD MOTEL, it’s always summer, the bags are always packed, and the car is always running. Beneath tight pop hooks and warm melodies, GOLD MOTEL’s songs are infused with joyous exuberance as well as sweet melancholy. The ten tracks on GOLD MOTEL's debut album Summer House are snapshots of dreaming, transient youth in constant motion - driving down desert highways, watching fireworks from the boardwalk, wandering the city in an endless summer but, in the end, always searching for the safety of home, friends, and love. The Chicago-based quintet originated in the warmer climate of Los Angeles during the summer of 2009. Greta Morgan (The Hush Sound) returned from a year in Southern California to her hometown of Chicago, bringing with her what would become the five-song GOLD MOTEL EP. Collaborating with her friend Dan Duzsynzski (This Is Me Smiling), recording began on a set of sharp, sunny pop songs with a decidedly West Coast outlook. Working with Duzsynski, Morgan realized that her pre-conceived solo project could grow into a full band effort. Through the fall of 2009, GOLD MOTEL transformed into a full-fledged band, adding Chicago music veterans Matt “Minx” Schuessler, Adam Kaltenhauser (both of This is Me Smiling), and Eric Hehr (The Yearbooks). The super group played together live for the first time in December of 2009 with a sold out headlining debut at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen, coinciding with the release of the GOLD MOTEL EP. Since then, GOLD MOTEL has headlined shows from Los Angeles to New York (and most cities in between) in support of Summer House, including a Winter 2011 national tour supporting Hellogoodbye. In November 2010, they released a two song 7 inch vinyl, Talking Fiction.
event::tags 21+
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
Matt Nathanson
82 schedule::attendees
Location
ACL Live at The Moody Theater
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Augustana
83 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Augustana
event::about Beginning before they were even “old enough to drink,” as frontman/songwriter Dan Layus puts it, the band Augustana has grown up tremendously over the past three years, touring relentlessly while supporting Epic debut All the Stars and Boulevards (which reached #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart) and hit single “Boston.” Inking a producer before they’d been seriously tested before an audience, and finding themselves in the recording studio tracking a major-label debut before the masses knew who they were, the band had to grow into the ambitious blueprint they’d set out for themselves, and grow they did. The results of the time in the trenches are found on Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt, the band’s assured follow-up. While the record is about the experience of becoming more seasoned as a band; Layus’ songwriting grew up as well, informed by becoming a husband and father, dealing with life’s attendant challenges. “It really affected us in a positive way,” observes the pianist and native Californian, who formed the band in Illinois with pal Jared Palomar (bass) before finding the missing pieces in L.A.— Justin South (drums) and John Vincent Fredricks (keyboards/vocals), the latter of whom Layus had known for years. Chris Sachtleben (guitar), a childhood friend of Palomar’s, moved from Nashville to join up. The increased responsibility also had Layus getting more serious about his chosen profession. “I took voice lessons, we changed management and I did anything I could to get better and learn—and I’m still doing that,” he says. “I also worked a lot harder on my songwriting, and spent enough time to get it absolutely right.” While most bands spend all their lives writing a debut record—then six months on a follow-up, Augustana actually did it backwards; arriving at the label with what everyone agreed was a solid single and a few other songs, but not much else. “We had six months to write our first record,” Layus recalls. “But then all of a sudden we were on the road for three years, with really nothing to do but write and demo. I was constantly writing songs and weeding stuff out.” As a result, Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt is 10 studiously-chosen cuts of modern, melodic, piano-driven rock, informed by Layus’s love of classic pop/rock songwriters—from The Beatles to Tom Petty—and covering deeper subject matter than the band’s debut. “Still Ain’t Over You” is a love song in the context of a committed relationship, while “Dust,” with its a capella introduction, is the sound of Layus attempting to make peace with his religious upbringing. “Meet You There Someday” was inspired by Layus’s young daughter and his frequent need to leave her behind in order to tour. Augustana hit the road even before All the Stars and Boulevards was released, crisscrossing clubs with the Stereophonics before graduating to much larger venues. By the time the band was logging well-received stints opening for Snow Patrol, Dashboard Confessional and Counting Crows, “Boston” was in rotation on radio, the video was getting plays under VH1’s “You Oughta Know” banner, and the band knew it was onto something. “I didn’t realize that this wasn’t always the way it happens, to come out with your first record and get a single on pop radio,” Layus recalls, laughing. “It was hard to get any real perspective on how incredibly lucky we were to be in that position.” With “Boston” well on its way to being certified digital platinum by the RIAA, the band made appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen Degeneres Show and The Today Show among countless others. The band chose producer Mike Flynn to usher Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt into the world. “I think he did an incredible job in terms of getting me outside my box and really exploring the potential of the songs,” Layus recalls. “Some of these songs I had been singing the same way at shows for over a year. Then comes this producer who says, ‘I think you should try it like this.’ I could feel it, physically, when I’d go home every night, like an uncomfortable stretching sensation. But I can’t look back and see that the songs would be even close to what they are right now if I hadn’t done the stuff that Mike and I had worked on.” The result is an intensely emotional album, borne of the band’s growth, cohesion as a unit, and Layus’ newfound fatherhood. And thanks to Flynn’s spot-on production, the results are delivered winningly. “I’m so happy I actually got to say things the way I wanted to say them and how I wanted to say them,” Layus says. “We all feel really confident about it.”
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Eisley
145 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Eisley
event::about Eisley Bio 2010 THE VALLEY: a low point between peaks. That’s where the DuPree sisters who front Eisley were as they crafted their third album: Sherri enduring a failed marriage, Chauntelle - a broken engagement and Stacy - a painful break up. The only relationship that ended on their terms was the split with Warner Bros. Arising from the depths, Eisley has reappeared with new personal relationships, a new label (Equal Vision Records) and a new album completed on their own - The Valley. Promising to bring listeners through the band’s darkest and most trying times, The Valley reveals in their strength, patience and perseverance. Climbing out of heir darkest valley, Eisley has managed to put forth their greatest and most personal album yet. Sherri and Stacy's exotic harmonies soar throughout the album, stronger than ever, and the band's sublime blend of airy guitar riffs and bright piano textures provide the gorgeous melodic framework for each song; but on tracks like "Smarter" and "Sad," there's a musical aggression and emotional urgency that transports you to the moment they were written that lay bare the open wound of the broken heart. And the chilling album closer, "Ambulance," is an icy snapshot of the very moment of betrayal and abandonment. Elsewhere, there's a stately solace in the hopeful "Kind" and whimsical "Mr. Moon," and buoyant string arrangements decorate opener "The Valley" and "Watch It Die." "There's a sense of self-empowerment in the lyrics, and sometimes downright desperation," says Stacy, who, with Sherri, writes Eisley's songs. "I couldn't help but want to throw myself into these songs and try to make a point about letting something very painful go, and in the process gaining strength and being able to walk away." Of course, it's no surprise to hear Eisley's music maturing. It's been nearly four years since their last album, Combinations, was released. Chauntelle, the bands eldest member was barely old enough to drink when they released their first EP in 2003. Stacy, the youngest sister, had just turned 15. Rounding out this band’s membership are brother Weston DuPree on drums and cousin Garron DuPree on bass who add drive and precision to each composition. Their debut album, Room Noises, earned them a plethora of that most coveted "buzz" and opening spots on tours with artists like Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Mute Math, The Fray, Say Anything. Now out of industry purgatory, Eisley is excited to share their Valley stories with a legion of fans and followers who continue to frequent eisley.com each month. While acknowledging fans patience and devotion, Sherri admits that the wait may have been for the best: “It’s allowed me to step away from it all and see that - wow - it was a crazy time in my life but now it’s in the past and I’m ready to get it out to the world. I can sing the songs live now and not feel all of the heartache and pain that I went through. I sounds really dramatic but had we released it right away, I don’t even know if I would have been able to sing those songs live”. Listen and you’ll hear. The Valley is a mountain-top experience.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Colour Revolt
68 schedule::attendees
Location
Lamberts
eventtype Music
Artists Colour Revolt
event::about Pretty much every band in history has had internal conflict, or members leave over some such inter-band strife. Not every band is able to push past that and create some of their most personal and cohesive material to date. Two years after the release of their full length 2008 debut, Colour Revolt –core members Jesse Coppenbarger and Sean Kirkpatrick -- return with their sophomore album “The Cradle.” “The Cradle” is unashamedly candid, and Coppenbarger and Kirkpatrick have no problem pulling back the curtain on the band’s past life and skeletons. In songs like “8 Years” and “Our Names,” the band explores new areas of their songwriting, while their storytelling style vents through personal issues and finds characters like “Carol” in “Reno.” They reveal the private moments of a life on tour and at home in “8 Years,” while the guitars in “She Don’t Talk” mirror Television and Elvis Costello. Brooks Tipton (keys) and Kirkpatrick’s ethereal tones swirl in the background of woven harmonies in the dynamic, pounding march of “Heartbeat” and “Mona Lisa.” Vocal harmonies, infectious melodies, and incessant drums pervade throughout the entire record. It’s evident that Coppenbarger and Kirkpatrick are finding the pulse of honest, brutal songwriting. With studio time booked a month away at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC, Coppenbarger (Vocals, guitar) and Kirkpatrick (Guitar, vocals) recruited Daniel Davison to add his raw drum style, and Tipton was asked to man the Farfisa, Rhodes and Casios. Producer Hank Sullivant (MGMT, The Whigs) rounded out the lineup on bass. They had a goal to record 11 songs live in 7 days, though the band had never fully played together until a week before the recording session. Sean and Jesse had demoed 20 songs in 2009 and sent 15 to the new band. They met for a week in Jackson, MS and rehearsed in an abandoned trucking company warehouse, hacking through the record song-by-song and played a couple shows prior to the session to work out any nerves. The album reached its full potential after Clay Jones (Modest Mouse), who produced the band’s first record, mixed the 2” tape recordings. In January of 2010, the band created their own imprint, New Fear, under their manager’s (Dualtone) label for the release, allowing them more ownership and creative control of their careers than ever before. As Jesse describes, “New Fear” grew out of “a collapse of interest between the band and Fat Possum. We fell apart. We felt that no one was representing us but us. We lost some brothers, survived and came out feeling like we could do this on our own and better. ‘The Cradle’ will prove that.” In 2006, Colour Revolt’s debut EP garnered national attention when it was re-released by Interscope imprint Tiny Evil. Oxford, MS-based label Fat Possum took notice, signing the band and releasing their first LP “Plunder, Beg, and Curse” in April of 2008. Praise from influential internet and print publications like Stereogum and Paste followed, with Paste naming "Plunder, Beg, and Curse" one of their top 50 releases of 2008. The band spent a year on the road following the release, including a tour with rock pioneers The Breeders and slots at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza.
event::tags 18+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Graham Colton
24 schedule::attendees
Location
Friends
eventtype Music
Artists Graham Colton
event::about Don't call it a simple return. Call it a metamorphosis, a deep progression, an inspired evolution or - perhaps most fitting - a rewarding exercise in self-actualization. Stepping into his own in order to connect to his heart and artistic vision, Graham Colton has emerged with a stunning collection of pop-rock melodies, lyrics and emotions in 12 tracks that swing between love and heartbreak, trials and relief on his forthcoming CD, Here Right Now. Although it can be said that the power of the story is in the telling, it’s the tale itself that inspires the story to be told. Performance and delivery make up only one half of the equation; the other half is the feeling and emotion that inspires the creation of melodies and lyrics. That substance is the product of lessons learned over hundreds of shows and thousands of miles traveled, and the distance in between. Indeed, Colton admits the grassroots elements that run throughout his music harkens back to his humble beginnings in Oklahoma City, where he grew up absorbing tidbits of his dad’s record collection. "My dad was in a 60's cover band, I used to watch them rehearse songs by The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Beatles. I liked the music, but all I wanted to do was sing with the band," he recalls. He soon got his wish at age 7, when he stood on a chair and belted out “Oklahoma” in front of a packed house. After learning to play the guitar at 12, he started writing his own songs (Colton still considers himself a songwriter first and a singer second), which led to small Saturday night gigs at a local Mexican restaurant, where Colton continued to absorb musical influences such as Counting Crows, Oasis, The Lemonheads, The Wallflowers, and R.E.M. After moving to Dallas to attend Southern Methodist University, a few of the home-recorded tracks from CD’s he handed out at gigs turned up on the Internet via Napster and he started drawing a wider audience to his self-penned acoustic rock. He soon drew the attention of one of his biggest influences, Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz, who got wind of Colton's following and booked the emerging act to open on six weeks of the band's 2002 college tour. A record deal with Universal Republic followed and The Graham Colton Band quickly amped up their tour experience, joining the Crows several more times and hitting the road with the likes of John Mayer, Maroon 5, Train, Kelly Clarkson and Dave Matthews Band. After three years of constant touring, Colton separated from his band and moved to Los Angeles where he spent a year writing songs and recording with producer John Fields (Switchfoot, Rooney, Semisonic). In the end, he settled on what he feels are the perfect twelve. On going solo, Colton explains, "I just knew that in order for me to make the kind of album that I needed to make I needed to be one hundred percent on my own. That is why it is so emotional. Every one of these songs is gut wrenching for me.“ Although it took coming back to his roots in all senses, to go forward, he hopes his work on Here Right Now transcends the moments he used as inspiration and reflected upon.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Har Mar Superstar
92 schedule::attendees
Location
Karma Lounge
eventtype Music
Artists Har Mar Superstar
event::about Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, Har Mar Superstar returns this fall with Dark Touches, his first album since 2004’s critically acclaimed The Handler. The new Har Mar retains his defiant sexiness and uncanny knack for irresistible R&B hooks, but fans his colorful wings in the spirit of inclusion. “Har Mar has always represented the most out-there and outrageous and in your face aspects of me,” says Sean Tillmann, the Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and producer behind the Har Mar Superstar moniker. “I’ve gone through phases where there’s been angry Har Mar and different versions of this guy, but lately it’s all been this vibe that everyone’s included and everyone’s part of this thing, and you feel like you added something to it just by being there. It’s about me going out and getting as sweaty as possible, moving around as much as I can, and in a sense glamour-ing everybody for the night and making them feel better about themselves.” Tillmann spent the past several years playing music with his other projects – Sean Na Na and Neon Neon, whose album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize. But he also found time to launch a new career as an actor and screenwriter, earning roles in the upcoming feature films Whip It (directed by Drew Barrymore, and starring Juno’s Ellen Page and Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat) and Lovely, Still. He’s developing his own movie scripts and sitcom pilots, building on the success of his “Crappy Holidays” videos; in each of the comedic shorts – directed by Ryan Rickett and written with John Ringhoff – Tillmann suffers a different cruel twist of fate for each holiday. “I kind of got sick of the Har Mar persona for a little while,” says Tillmann. “I thought it was time to go away for a little bit, so hung up the Har Mar jacket and went back in my shell and made a new Sean Na Na album and had fun doing that and toured a lot with Neon Neon, and started these film projects with my friends out here.” But Tillmann kept writing tunes throughout those years, and after awhile he found himself feeling much the same way he had when he started Har Mar Superstar ten years ago. “I just got sick of playing guitar music again,” he says. “I realized that I really missed Har Mar.” For Dark Touches, Tillmann recorded with friends like Greg Kurstin of Los Angeles band the Bird and the Bee, rapper P.O.S. of the Rhymesayers collective, singer-songwriter Adam Green, the Faint beatmakers Clark Baechle and Jacob Thiele, and The Handler producer John Fields, whose credits include Andrew W.K., Rooney and the Jonas Brothers. The results soundtrack a retro-futuristic dance party, an exuberant pastiche of late Eighties R&B grooves, crisp synth samples, Tillmann’s soulful falsetto – part Usher, part Todd Rundgren – and cheeky lyrics describing the courtship practices of the lothario known as Har Mar Superstar. “I Got Next,” for instance, was inspired by Tillmann’s habit of asking a cute girl to sign a contract agreeing that, if she should break up with her current beau, Har Mar’s got next. “It’s like, ‘sign this contract, and I’ll come back and make out with you next time,” explains Tillmann, who co-wrote the track with his Neon Neon band mate, Bryan “Boom Bip” Hollon and Bird And The Bee singer Inara George. “I have a lot of contracts signed, on napkins and things. It’s a fun, flirtatious thing to do that feels naughty when you’re on tour.” Tillmann started writing Dark Touches a few years ago, but it took him a minute to realize that the initial ideas worked perfectly as Har Mar Superstar songs. “Tall Boy” (written with Kurstin) and “Girls Only” (written with Fields), for instance, were conceived as tunes for Britney Spears and the Cheetah Girls, respectively, but have twice the spice coming from Har Mar’s perspective. “I realized a song like ‘Girls Only’ is so much more amazing if I sing it,” he says. “I wrote that one for the Cheetah Girls a while ago, and I feel like Disney freaked out a bit after doing a Google search and seeing pictures of me performing in my underwear. I understand why they would pass on that. But it’s one of those things where I was stepping outside of myself and writing totally uninhibited for somebody else. Then, when you come back at the end of the day, you realize you wrote a Har Mar song, and there’s a light bulb that goes off and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s ME.’” Har Mar Superstar was born ten years ago, when Tillmann was living in Minneapolis, playing guitar-based indie rock. The Har Mar idea, he says, was “a reaction to boring indie rock and how people were taking themselves way too seriously, and any aspect of playing and touring was no fun after a while, and I realized if I go to a dance party and sing an R. Kelly song on a couch, the girls are going to go fucking crazy. So I started transferring that to the stage and doing more R&B-oriented songs, and it really was a no-brainer after I’d done it a few times. Like, ‘why don’t I just make this gross, why don’t I just start writing songs like that?” And as soon as I did, it was obvious, it was like a light bulb went off and I went on my way and got more and more aggressive, and the shows became this weird exercise in sexual tension, and I really learned how to play with that fire and make it work for me.” By the time Tillmann had accumulated eight or nine new tunes last year, he started to embrace the idea of making the album that would become Dark Touches. “I just kept going with it,” he says, “and this record was born.” Embracing the various threads of his personality – the humorous, the self-deprecating, the potty-mouthed, the lusty – Tillmann came up with booty-shakers even more irresistible than The Handler’s hit tune “D.U.I.” “Dope, Man,” – a sunny funk tune about the agony and ecstasy of being a weed dealer – and “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” – co-written with his buddies Josiah Steinbrick from the band Heavens and Matthew “Cornbread” Compton of Cursive and Engine Down — are the epitome of what Tillmann calls “fun party jams with a deeper subtext or double- or triple-entendre going on in the lyrics.” Elsewhere, he’s more direct: “Gangsters Want to Cuddle Me,” with its lo-fi electro beat and a slinky Sly Stone-style horn loop, tells the story of a how a hoodie covered in puffy neon dinosaurs made Tillmann into the most huggable dude walking down Sunset Boulevard. And “Game Night” –featuring a beat supplied by Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. and a whisper verse by Adam Green — narrates the singer’s habit of inviting friends together in LA for board games and trivia. (He even hosts a popular Sunday night pub quiz at Silverlake Mexican restaurant Malo.) “Har Mar is as much ‘Crappy Holidays’ as it is an album,” says Tillmann. “The place that I’m coming from isn’t going to change, and it all really is an extension of myself. There’s not too much of a division between Har Mar and Sean at this point. I guess it sort of fulfilled the prophecy: I’ve just become my own guy, and that’s what Har Mar records present to people.” -Jenny Eliscu
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
The Spinto Band
70 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists The Spinto Band, !!!
event::about The Spinto Band have just competed their third full length album. The recordings were self-produced in their Delaware studio over the course of 2010. In the coming months they are preparing for the release of the album and an accompanying tour. In addition, the band helped create the soundtrack for the 2011 film The Beast Pageant.
event::tags 21+
12:15 AM
to 1:15 AM
Queens of the Stone Age
455 schedule::attendees
Location
La Zona Rosa
12:30 AM
to 1:30 AM
Locksley
58 schedule::attendees
Location
Black & Tan
12:50 AM
to 1:50 AM
Okkervil River
487 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Okkervil River
event::about "The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing," frontman Will Sheff says about Okkervil River's newest album. "I produced it myself so that I could extend the songwriting process all the way through to the very last second of recording, so the songs would never really stop changing." The resulting record, 'I am Very Far,' is a startling break from anything this band has done before. By turns terrifying and joyous, violent and serene, grotesque and romantic, it's a celebration of forces beyond our control. When Okkervil River released their breakthrough 'Black Sheep Boy' in 2005, Uncut wrote that "Sheff's novelistic lyrics and the dexterous blend of country, folk and nervy indie-rock suggest a band approaching the peak of their powers." A New York Times piece on their 2007 follow-up 'The Stage Names' (and its companion album 'The Stand Ins') echoed, "Sheff writes like a novelist," and Pitchfork called him, "One of the best lyric-writers in indie rock." But on 'I am Very Far,' Sheff emerges not only as a songwriter of the highest caliber, but a producer and arranger of singular vision. Abandoning the tidy conceptual arcs of Okkervil River's previous albums, 'I am Very Far' is a monolithic, darkly ambiguous work, one that doesn't readily offer up its secrets. Work on 'I am Very Far' started in early 2009, after a year spent on the music of others. Sheff contributed vocals to The New Pornographer's album 'Together,' wrote a song for Norah Jones' 'The Fall,' produced an upcoming album for Brooklyn-based Bird of Youth, and helmed the Roky Erickson record 'True Love Cast Out All Evil,' for which his album notes received a GRAMMY nomination. "I'd never worked with Roky before and never produced someone else's record before. It was a life-changing experience," Sheff recalls, "When it was over I felt both completely drained and completely inspired." Immediately upon wrapping up work and leaving Erickson's company, Sheff drove to his home state of New Hampshire for lengthy isolated writing sessions. "I wanted to go back home and re-start writing again, like I'd never written a song previously," he says, "and I wanted the music and lyrics to be both completely wedded together and a little bit beyond my control. I kept trying to write from the state of mind of someone who had just been born, that feeling of being very young and being aware of not existing before a certain moment, which is a feeling I remember having as a kid." Sheff emerged from the writing process with 30 or so songs, which he narrowed down to 18. In contrast to Okkervil River's usual practice of holing up in one studio for months on end, he opted for a series of short, high-intensity sessions, each in a different location, each employing completely different methods than the one before it. For songs like "Rider" and "Wake and Be Fine," Sheff gathered together a massive version of Okkervil River – two drummers, two pianists, two bassists, and seven guitarists, all playing live in one room – and led them on a week of live-in-the-studio marathon session, performing a single song obsessively over and over for as many as 12 hours to capture just the right take. Songs like "Show Yourself" and "Hanging from a Hit" were worked out in improvisational sessions with the core band, minimally recorded to 8-track tape, and then re-structured and re-written in the editing process. For the strange science-fiction parable "White Shadow Waltz," Sheff self-recorded the entire song and then had Okkervil River re-record every instrumental track on top of that. After basic-tracking was done, Sheff overdubbed the songs with the band's largest instrumental palette to date – not only choral elements and orchestral colors like strings, tympani, tuba and bassoon, but also file cabinets thrown across the room, unreeled rolls of duct tape, and, on "Piratess," a solo created out of a fast-forwarding and rewinding boombox. Finishing the record from home, Sheff constantly edited and reworked the album, reinventing the song structures, re-recording vocals, re-writing until the very last minute, reshaping even the tiniest of details, ultimately creating an album that plays not only as a lush, seamless epic, but also as the most deeply personal effort of his career. What can listeners expect? Richer and weirder than 'The Stage Names' and deeper and moodier than even 'Black Sheep Boy,' 'I am Very Far' is dense, fragmented, opaque. A reverie of uncertainty, it feels at once disorienting and oddly familiar, threatening and friendly. Okkervil River have thrown away all maps and compasses but they continue to chart their way, unblinking, toward destinations unknown.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Rooney
109 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Rooney
event::about You can go ahead and call Rooney's new album, Eureka, their declaration of independence. After several years trudging under the weight of a major label deal that never quite fit them right, the Los Angeles band is making a bold, fresh start: Rooney recorded and produced Eureka themselves, and will be releasing the disc June 8th on their own new label, California Dreamin' Records through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The 12-track Eureka is their most mature, nuanced collection yet, and still retains their classic buoyancy and catchiness. Eleven years after they started the band as teenaged friends with a shared love of the Beatles, Cheap Trick and ELO, lead singer and guitarist Robert Schwartzman, keyboard player / vocalist Louie Stephens, guitarist / vocalist Taylor Locke, and drummer / vocalist Ned Brower have grown into a modern power-pop band in a class of their own. Over the years, they've toured with everyone from Weezer and The Strokes, winning new fans among all those audiences. 'I don't think there are any modern bands that we have much in common with,' says Locke. Though Eureka is, in many ways, a rebirth for Rooney, the independent spirit behind it is nothing new for the band, which began in 1999, when its members were still in high school. During their early years, the band self-produced and promoted a series of EPs and built themselves a massive hometown fan base by gigging as often as they could in local LA clubs. Their self-titled debut album, released in May 2003, maintained a solid presence on Billboard's New Artists chart for several months, and then shot up in 2004 following a performance on teen dramedy The O.C., known for its taste-making assortment of music from critically acclaimed new bands who had yet to make it mainstream. Slowly and steadily over the course of two years, Rooney's debut disc amassed sales of nearly 500,000 copies. They began making their second album in 2004, and in the three years that followed, they recorded three album's worth of material before finally releasing Calling The World in 2007. The problem, the band explains, was the ongoing pressure from their label, Geffen/Interscope, to come up with a hit song. Producers shuttled in and out, songs were recorded then trashed, and Rooney's members say they became increasingly discouraged. The long lag between albums may not have hurt their sales Calling The World debuted #42 on The Billboard Top 100 Albums chart and lead single 'Where Did Your Heart Go Missing' went to #1 in Germany and in the Top 10 in Italy, France, Ireland and The Netherlands - but it definitely took a toll on their morale. 'The whole culture of major labels is to just keep fucking with shit instead of getting something from an artist that's their vision and supporting it and putting it out and promoting it, the old fashioned way,' says Locke. 'We've heard our story from other bands a million times, where you've got the label telling you remix, re-record, try a different producer, try an outside songwriter, do it here, we're pushing it back to spring, back to summer, fall -- it's never-ending.' 'The pressure of always having to think about what's going to be 'the hit,'' says Schwartzman, 'and all those ideas were interfering with the process of trying to make music that felt really good and felt like it was coming from a good, true place.' Finally, last spring, Rooney parted ways with the label. The guys started recording Eureka in April of 2009, in a new studio Schwartzman built into his Los Angeles home. 'I think the biggest thing I learned working with all the different producers is that you don't need to be in a big fancy studio spending $2,000 a day to make a record that sounds great,' says Schwartzman,. 'We whittled down the list of things you need to make a record and it became a much more realistic list of things to purchase and use.' The process of writing and tracking new material happened more organically than ever before, and though Rooney were excited to be making their first album on their own, they didn't want to rush it. 'We didn't record every day of the week, and we didn't record months consistently,' says Schwartzman. 'We wrote for awhile and then we stopped and then there was more writing, and some more songs were written and recorded once we'd done the original batch of songs.' Yet they didn't want to become complacent, in the absence of outside scrutiny. 'We did try to A&R ourselves through the process -- to question the songs, the flow of the recordings, and to ask ourselves, 'Can we beat this, can we beat that?'' the singer notes. 'We didn't want to just settle for the songs we had. The thing I was most afraid of going into it wasn't 'Can we make good-sounding music?' It was, 'Can we pull out of ourselves what we need to pull out to make great music?' I think if you get too hung up on gear and everything, it's still not really about the songs and the emotion and everything that's happening. I was happy that we were actually able to say to ourselves, 'I don't think we have a first single,' as much as that was so annoying to hear all those years.'' 'Part of the fun was just indulging our influences,' says Stephens. 'One of the reasons I'm happy with the record is that I think we were able to do that in a lot of different, varied ways. 'Holding On' has kind of a [Tom] Petty vibe to the arrangement, and 'Only Friend' and 'Into the Blue' have more of a psychedelic thing that we hadn't fully done before. 'The Hunch' is kind of a balls-out rock song, and 'I Can't Get Enough' has got a little bit of a rhythmic thing.' Schwartzman admits he had Petty in mind when he was writing the song. 'I was watching Running Down a Dream, the Tom Petty documentary, and it was really inspiring,' he says. 'I didn't realize how much of Tom Petty's influences came from a lot of the stuff I really love, which is Fifties and early Sixties pop stuff, just great old songs that are simple and really straightforward. I really like that, and I love the simplicity in the storytelling and the lyric-writing. Afterward, I just wanted to sit down and write, and 'Holding On' and 'You're What I'm Looking For' came out of that.' Petty's inspiration served him well: 'Holding On,' the track that opens Eureka, is not only a classic Rooney-style sing-along, it's also the song that articulates, most directly, how the band has come to view its past, present and future. A first-person narrative, the song tells 'the story of how we met, how this band started,' describing how he moved to New York for college but soon came home just to continue with Rooney. 'And the pre-chorus talks about being wined and dined by all the managers and the lawyers and the agents,' he continues. 'And the lyric goes, 'It's just another meal, I'm fat with regret, placing my bet on me.' The music industry is such a dirty little world, and we've heard our story from bands a million times, but the song about holding on when you're on the edge of something is a wake-up call for us, about entering a new place, a new phase of our career, and breaking away.'
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Stephen Kellogg
29 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
eventtype Music
Artists Stephen Kellogg
event::about Look no further than the title track of their new Vanguard debut album The Bear to understand Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. As the band sings passionately, “Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. Sometimes you’re gonna win, sometimes you’re gonna lose…but you know in the end – there's no apologies!” “SK6ERS,” as they’re also affectionately known, have carved a determined, inspiring path since forming in Western Massachusetts in 2003. An exceptional live act given to high-energy showmanship, The Sixers are closing in on their 1000th show with a newfound grit and gratitude. Stephen and core Sixers – Kit “Goose” Karlson (keys, bass, tuba, accordion) and Brian “Boots” Factor (drums, mandolin, banjo) -- are friends who act like brothers and switch off on their instruments to keep it fresh; much in the tradition of their collective heroes, The Band. “We’ve all opted to approach our life in the same way – trying to put integrity ahead of ambitions of fame and fortune, though we’d like that too... at least the fortune part,” Stephen says with a laugh. Many bands talk about “keeping it real,” but in The Sixers’ case, they mean it. “We’re not up there projecting a personality we can’t believe in. I think it’s important to go with the feel of each moment and take chances. If that means we get out of synch or sing out of key once in a while, so be it. The crags are cool because they’re interesting.” That explains why producer Tom Schick (Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright) signed up for the new record. “Each person in The Sixers really adds a lot,” he says. “They’re so locked in with each other. Stephen is definitely the leader of the gang, but everybody has their say,” he adds of the roles played by Boots Factor and Kit Karlson. “They rise and fall together. It’s amazing to watch them work.” Schick now understands why the group has a growing legion of loyal fans. “They’re a ‘classic rock’ band in the best sense of the phrase,” he says. “You can hear Neil Young, Tom Petty and John Cougar in there. It brings back a lot of good feelings about growing up and listening to great people who can really play their instruments. It’s not pieced together on a computer. It’s very refreshing.” The Bear is their rawest and most collaborative album yet. With alternating tracks between producers Tom Schick and Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown) the album was recorded in an apartment studio in NYC and a big old house in Maine respectively. The duality of these settings fits perfectly with Kellogg’s description of his family upbringing as, "aristocrats and farmers." Ditto the musical diet he was raised on, a strange bedfellow mix of his dad's 70's records and his sister's taking him to 80's metal concerts. Kellogg explains, "I'm as much a product of Whitesnake as I am of Jackson Browne. The beauty of The Sixers is that they don't have a problem with that." Out of that deep understanding of each other, several of the new songs were co-written by the group including "My Old Man," an aching personal track about an aging father; "Dying Wish of a Teenager," a song about wrestling hopelessness; "The Bear" and "Do," both brighter tracks about making it through life amidst the highs and lows that exist for everyone. It all builds up to the climactic "Born in the Spring," a song about rebirth from the “what-fors, flames and trap doors through which all of us fell.’’ The album is a heartfelt odyssey that also rocks with an explosive touch at times, as the band continues to push the boundaries of what they've done before. Of the recording process itself, Boots elaborates, "Most of the record was recorded in a room with us spilling all the guts we could muster into the mics. It wasn't always pretty but that's... well that's the bear." Other stand out collaborations comes in the form of those who lent their time and talents to the making of The Bear. Canadian stand out Serena Ryder on "See Yourself," Josh Ritter on "All Part of the Show."
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Surfer Blood
305 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar-Palm Door
eventtype Music
Artists Surfer Blood
event::about Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, the quintet known as Surfer Blood had a breakout year in 2010 with the release of their debut album 'Astro Coast' in January 2010. Months prior to the actual release, Surfer Blood took the CMJ music festival by storm playing an incredible 12 shows. Spending the winter months leading up to their album release, Surfer Blood criss-crossed the nation on tour supporting Japandroids and Art Brut. Never breaking straight into the new year, getting a major boost from all around rave press reviews, including a 'Best New Music' tag from Pitchfork Media, the band continued their incessant touring. This year has taken these Floridians across Europe several times, as far as Japan for Summer Sonic and Australia for Splendour in the Grass festivals; they ended out the year with a support tour for Interpol. Because of their dedication, 12 months later Astro Coast is topping several year end lists. NPR deemed them "America's best new pop band", they made Rolling Stone's "Rookies of the Year" list, Filter Magazine listed their album as #7 of the year, plus making the list of numerous others: MySpace, NME, Urban Outfitters, Rough Trade Shop. Based on the longevity that the album stayed in PopMatter's rotation, they regard it as "unfuckwithable" and PrefixMag said, "Surfer Blood is the best '90s band working today." For 2011, Surfer Blood will return with an EP of new tunes to be released in late spring. More touring will inevitably ensue.
event::tags 21+
12:45 PM
to 1:45 PM
Emmylou Harris
163 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Allie Moss
12 schedule::attendees
Location
Creekside at Hilton Garden Inn
eventtype Music
Artists Allie Moss
event::about “When I heard it was going to be in a BT advert I was stunned,” says Allie Moss of her acoustic pop tune “Corner,” now in heavy rotation in the UK and Ireland as the soundtrack to an attention-getting BT Infinity spot. “Someone contacted me on Facebook about it, and four days later it was on the air. It goes without saying that I’m thrilled … and still slightly in shock.” In one of those rare, successful meetings of art and commerce, the song has started to climb the UK charts - before promo, press, radio play or online marketing has kicked in. In a thoroughly contemporary twist, a great many of the sales have come via Shazam – with the public holding up their iPhones and PDA’s to the TV screen, to discover the song and Allie’s music. Currently “Corner” is at 61 in the midweek UK Singles Chart, Number 1 on the Indie Breakthrough chart, and on the singles front page on iTunes. The exquisitely art-directed ad – in which fibre optics illuminate the familiar BT family, frolicking kids, dancing urbanites and assorted animals to illustrate BT’s new fibre optic broadband service BT Infinity – has piqued public and music-industry curiosity about Moss, whose lovely pipes and plangent chords lend the images an emotional kick. “When I wrote the song,” says the native of Long Branch, New Jersey, “it was about the idea that sometimes, when you’re braving a difficult situation instead of fighting it, you just need someone to hold your hand and help you get through. It’s saying to a friend: Take my hand and we’ll get through it together.” The compassion of “Corner” – which has also been heard on the ABC series Brothers and Sisters – is evident in much of the singer-songwriter’s work. A version of the track was first released in 2009 as part of the seven-song EP Passerby, produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown); now the celebrated song is officially released in the UK, concurrent with the digital album "Late Bloomer," from which it is taken. The UK physical release will be in January 2011, a deluxe edition with bonus tracks and video. That album will be launched in spring 2011 in the US. Moss played UK and European dates with troubadour Josh Ritter in May 2010, before playing two key gigs in London with appearances at the ASCAP showcase and at a packed Regal Rooms, plus two very special performances at the top of the BT Tower. With the album’s digital release date brought forward, a tour has been booked for Allie and she’ll be playing select UK dates and media appearances from November 15th-December 1st. These live sets deepened the impression already made by “Corner.” Her emotionally naked solo performances have upped Moss’ popularity with the pop faithful, as the comments accompanying various live videos of that song, as well as “Dig With Me,” “Let It Go,” “Melancholy Astronautic Man” and other live favourites on YouTube (“angel’s voice”; “one of the purest voices on earth”; “simply amazing”) attest. Though her reputation is just starting to go wide, Moss is no newcomer; she picked up the guitar at age 16, after an injury sidelined her athletic pursuits. “By the time I learned five chords, I was ready to start writing songs,” she recalls. “It became like an addiction. I’d always been able to sing as a kid, but it wasn’t until I played guitar – and could create something out of nothing – that music became my dream.” She’s nurtured that dream ever since; still, the mass recognition from the BT ad is a new experience for a New Jersey girl who identifies herself on her own website as someone who “makes sandwiches.” But there’s little doubt that the added exposure will bring Allie Moss out of the “Corner” and into the mainstream.
event::tags 18+
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
The Band of Heathens
91 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
The Strokes
748 schedule::attendees
Location
Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
9:30 PM
to 10:30 PM
Noah and the Whale
326 schedule::attendees
Location
Stubb's
eventtype Music
Artists Noah and the Whale, !!!
event::about Noah and the Whale Last Night on Earth In the early January of last year, Charlie Fink set to work on Noah and the Whale's third album. Holed up in a synagogue in East London, he had little to begin with - a few fragments, a sketch for a 10-minute song that resembled Street Hassle, and a set of lyrics begun on a New Year's Day train from Wales to London. But what little there was seemed to suggest the beginnings of something quite special, something markedly different to the songs they had written before. The continued maturation of Noah and the Whale has been a pleasing thing to follow - from the joyous burst of their debut, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, through the lovelorn sobriety of The First Days of Spring, it now reaches a kind of fruition on Last Night on Earth. Where The First Days of Spring was a contained and inward-looking record that moved at near-underwater speed, Last Night on Earth possesses a curiosity and a vibrancy, a romance and a restlessness, and a clutch of songs that mark out Fink as not just as one of the best songwriters of his generation, but also as a supremely gifted storyteller. These are tales of youth and ageing, of optimism and running away, as well of failure and pride. 'And it feels like his new life can start,' runs the chorus of No Distance Is Too Far. 'And it feels like heaven.' The album's strong narrative thread was in part inspired by Lou Reed's 1973 album Berlin as well as Tom Waits' 1992 record Bone Machine, and a little Arthur Russell thrown in for good measure. 'Just people songs,' is how Fink describes it. 'These are simple stories, so you could tell them in hundreds of different ways, and the way you tell them, that's sort of the music.' The way he tells them is at times broad-skied and anthemic - particularly on tracks such as L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N and Tonight's The Kind Of Night, while at others there are strokes of unabashed pop - Life Is Life, for example, or Just Me Before We Met. And at others still, such as on final track Old Joy, there is a sweet kind of wistfulness. Lyrically, they range from the nostalgic to the vital, songs charged with an urgency, a sense of movement, and an appetite for adventure and the unknown. It is, in many senses, a true coming of age record. 'I don't think that coming of age thing has been in anything I've done before,' Fink says. 'But from the beginning I wanted to write a record that had that excitement of being young and being in the night. I think it's that naivity - that feeling that things are happening everywhere except where you are, wondering what's out there in the wide world. It's when you're on a bus, you don't know where you're heading, you don't know what's at the end of it, and you have this fantasy that whatever's at the end of it is going to be remarkable and magnificent.' Certainly Noah and the Whale as a band now seem to have come of age. As the leaders of the same British folk-rock scene that spawned Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, and Emmy the Great, with this album they appear to stand perhaps a little taller and a little broader than their peers; these songs possess a maturity, and a new kind of wisdom: 'Tall buildings and a wife won't be enough for me,' Fink sings on Old Joy. 'There is more in the world to be found than dreams.' The personnel shifted a little for Last Night on Earth. Drummer Doug Fink left the band last year to concentrate on his medical career. 'He's my older brother, and there's so many roles he fulfils on the road, not just the drummer, so it's kind of hard,' Fink says of his absence. 'But he's the first person I go to if I need to consult someone, if I need someone's opinion, so he's still been a big part of this record Â
And I think he will come back eventually.' Co-produced by Fink and Jason Lader [Julian Casablancas, The Mars Volta] in Los Angeles, Last Night on Earth features backing vocals by Jen Turner from Here We Go Magic, and gospel vocals by the legendary Waters Sisters, who famously provided backing vocals for Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Starting Something. 'I was teaching them the vocals for Old Joy,' Fink recalls. 'One of the sisters came in and asked for a latte with six sugars  six sugars! - and she downed that, went in and gave the best vocal take I've ever heard.' Elsewhere, the record features Adam MacDougall of The Black Crowes on Moog and Rhodes, and legendary percussionist Lenny Castro. There is a strong cinematic element to Last Night on Earth - from the deliberately Twin Peaks air of Wild Thing to the album's cast of richly-drawn characters. In part this was fed by Fink's experience of directing the short film that accompanied The First Days of Spring. 'Film is such a different writing process, it infiltrates the way I write songs,' he explains. 'And a lot of them I imagined as scenes - Tonight's the Kind of Night I imagined as this guy running away from home and getting on a busÂ
' It is also a richly poetic record: last year, Fink read the work of Frank O'Hara for the first time, and fell in love with his poem Having A Coke With You. 'I wanted Life Is Life to have a feel of that, or a tempo. Just the notion of it. Having A Coke With You is I think a very romantic poem, and that's the only outwardly romantic song on the album, and so I wanted it to have the same approach.' The album's title is also a nod towards Charles Bukowski's poetry collection The Last Night of the Earth - Fink says he was attracted to the sense of 'loser's pride' in Bukowski's work. 'In my head,' he says, 'there is a link between Lou Reed's Berlin, and Bukowski's poetry.' The track Life Is Life, is another Bukowski reference, its title tipping its hat to his poem The Laughing Heart - a poem whose final lines seem to sum up this record quite perfectly: 'Your life is your life,' it runs. 'Know it while you have it. You are marvellous. The Gods wait to delight in you.' www.noahandthewhale.com
event::tags All
10:30 PM
to 11:30 PM
Portugal. The Man
310 schedule::attendees
Location
Stubb's
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Friendly Fires
259 schedule::attendees
Location
The Windish Agency House @ ND
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Quiet Company
51 schedule::attendees
Location
The Marq
eventtype Music
Artists Quiet Company
event::about 2010 was a break out year for Austin, TX’s QUIET COMPANY. They began the year by playing SXSW 2010 & self-producing/recording their 6 track EP, Songs for Staying In, which was released to incredible critical acclaim in May, 2010. The 1st single, “How Do You Do It” was quickly added to KGSR’s rotation, and with in weeks, was also a staff pick selection by KROX’s Trevin Smith and added into full rotation on their station as well. “How Do You Do It” was featured for over 4 months on both stations. The enormous amount of radio play drastically increased Quiet Company’s profile around Texas and earned them opening spots on tours with the Toadies, Bob Schneider & Rooney and allowed them to play in front of sold out crowds at the House of Blues in Dallas and Houston. The demand in Austin for Quiet Company exploded in 2010. They received offers to headline the historic Threadgills World Headquarters, Antones, & Emo’s and continued to play monthly in Austin with an ever increasing draw. The highlight of the year came when they were asked to record a session for ACL presents Satellite Stages at the world famous KLRU studios 6A in August. http://www.klru.org/satellitesets/artist/quiet-company/ Quiet Company’s music made a splash on TV as well. Their songs were featured on multiple episodes of MTV’s The Real World New Orleans, Keeping Up With the Kardashians & they were asked to play themselves on an episode of ABC’s My Generation and had 2 songs featured in the series. Quiet Company ended 2010 with a tour in September that took them through the Midwest including Chicago, Nashville, Cincinnati, Shreveport. In November of 2010 they began recording & self-producing their 3rd album which is on schedule to be released in Spring 2011. 2009 Highlights: Shifting their focus from spreading their time thin over the national touring circuit to developing their fan base locally and regionally, Quiet Company made huge strides and built considerable buzz in 2009. They released their sophmore record, "Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon," to critical praise in March 09 and shared the stage with bands such as The Toadies, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Los Lonely Boys, This Will Destroy You, Dear & The Headlights, Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday, The Rocketboys, and Alpha Rev. "Everyone" received regular radio play on Austin radio stations KROX, KUT, COOP, & KLBJ while the videos for the first two singles, "On Modern Men" and "Its Better To Spend Money..." find themselves in regular rotation on local music channel METV as well as numerous internet radio/film podcasts from all over America, Canada, and Europe. Quiet Company's catalog was licensed out to a few non exclusive licensing companies and thus far has been used by Sweet Leaf Tea's Sweet Leaf TV, as well as two episodes of E! Network's Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and an upcoming episode of MTV's Real World. Since their inception in 2005, Quiet Company has traveled all over the country, logging over 400 shows just since 2007, and though the lineup has changed, the goal never has: To write epic pop music that is intelligent, honest, and thought provoking.
event::tags 21+
11:15 PM
to 12:15 AM
Emmylou Harris
245 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
11:15 PM
to 12:15 AM
Har Mar Superstar
75 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
eventtype Music
Artists Har Mar Superstar
event::about Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, Har Mar Superstar returns this fall with Dark Touches, his first album since 2004’s critically acclaimed The Handler. The new Har Mar retains his defiant sexiness and uncanny knack for irresistible R&B hooks, but fans his colorful wings in the spirit of inclusion. “Har Mar has always represented the most out-there and outrageous and in your face aspects of me,” says Sean Tillmann, the Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and producer behind the Har Mar Superstar moniker. “I’ve gone through phases where there’s been angry Har Mar and different versions of this guy, but lately it’s all been this vibe that everyone’s included and everyone’s part of this thing, and you feel like you added something to it just by being there. It’s about me going out and getting as sweaty as possible, moving around as much as I can, and in a sense glamour-ing everybody for the night and making them feel better about themselves.” Tillmann spent the past several years playing music with his other projects – Sean Na Na and Neon Neon, whose album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize. But he also found time to launch a new career as an actor and screenwriter, earning roles in the upcoming feature films Whip It (directed by Drew Barrymore, and starring Juno’s Ellen Page and Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat) and Lovely, Still. He’s developing his own movie scripts and sitcom pilots, building on the success of his “Crappy Holidays” videos; in each of the comedic shorts – directed by Ryan Rickett and written with John Ringhoff – Tillmann suffers a different cruel twist of fate for each holiday. “I kind of got sick of the Har Mar persona for a little while,” says Tillmann. “I thought it was time to go away for a little bit, so hung up the Har Mar jacket and went back in my shell and made a new Sean Na Na album and had fun doing that and toured a lot with Neon Neon, and started these film projects with my friends out here.” But Tillmann kept writing tunes throughout those years, and after awhile he found himself feeling much the same way he had when he started Har Mar Superstar ten years ago. “I just got sick of playing guitar music again,” he says. “I realized that I really missed Har Mar.” For Dark Touches, Tillmann recorded with friends like Greg Kurstin of Los Angeles band the Bird and the Bee, rapper P.O.S. of the Rhymesayers collective, singer-songwriter Adam Green, the Faint beatmakers Clark Baechle and Jacob Thiele, and The Handler producer John Fields, whose credits include Andrew W.K., Rooney and the Jonas Brothers. The results soundtrack a retro-futuristic dance party, an exuberant pastiche of late Eighties R&B grooves, crisp synth samples, Tillmann’s soulful falsetto – part Usher, part Todd Rundgren – and cheeky lyrics describing the courtship practices of the lothario known as Har Mar Superstar. “I Got Next,” for instance, was inspired by Tillmann’s habit of asking a cute girl to sign a contract agreeing that, if she should break up with her current beau, Har Mar’s got next. “It’s like, ‘sign this contract, and I’ll come back and make out with you next time,” explains Tillmann, who co-wrote the track with his Neon Neon band mate, Bryan “Boom Bip” Hollon and Bird And The Bee singer Inara George. “I have a lot of contracts signed, on napkins and things. It’s a fun, flirtatious thing to do that feels naughty when you’re on tour.” Tillmann started writing Dark Touches a few years ago, but it took him a minute to realize that the initial ideas worked perfectly as Har Mar Superstar songs. “Tall Boy” (written with Kurstin) and “Girls Only” (written with Fields), for instance, were conceived as tunes for Britney Spears and the Cheetah Girls, respectively, but have twice the spice coming from Har Mar’s perspective. “I realized a song like ‘Girls Only’ is so much more amazing if I sing it,” he says. “I wrote that one for the Cheetah Girls a while ago, and I feel like Disney freaked out a bit after doing a Google search and seeing pictures of me performing in my underwear. I understand why they would pass on that. But it’s one of those things where I was stepping outside of myself and writing totally uninhibited for somebody else. Then, when you come back at the end of the day, you realize you wrote a Har Mar song, and there’s a light bulb that goes off and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s ME.’” Har Mar Superstar was born ten years ago, when Tillmann was living in Minneapolis, playing guitar-based indie rock. The Har Mar idea, he says, was “a reaction to boring indie rock and how people were taking themselves way too seriously, and any aspect of playing and touring was no fun after a while, and I realized if I go to a dance party and sing an R. Kelly song on a couch, the girls are going to go fucking crazy. So I started transferring that to the stage and doing more R&B-oriented songs, and it really was a no-brainer after I’d done it a few times. Like, ‘why don’t I just make this gross, why don’t I just start writing songs like that?” And as soon as I did, it was obvious, it was like a light bulb went off and I went on my way and got more and more aggressive, and the shows became this weird exercise in sexual tension, and I really learned how to play with that fire and make it work for me.” By the time Tillmann had accumulated eight or nine new tunes last year, he started to embrace the idea of making the album that would become Dark Touches. “I just kept going with it,” he says, “and this record was born.” Embracing the various threads of his personality – the humorous, the self-deprecating, the potty-mouthed, the lusty – Tillmann came up with booty-shakers even more irresistible than The Handler’s hit tune “D.U.I.” “Dope, Man,” – a sunny funk tune about the agony and ecstasy of being a weed dealer – and “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” – co-written with his buddies Josiah Steinbrick from the band Heavens and Matthew “Cornbread” Compton of Cursive and Engine Down — are the epitome of what Tillmann calls “fun party jams with a deeper subtext or double- or triple-entendre going on in the lyrics.” Elsewhere, he’s more direct: “Gangsters Want to Cuddle Me,” with its lo-fi electro beat and a slinky Sly Stone-style horn loop, tells the story of a how a hoodie covered in puffy neon dinosaurs made Tillmann into the most huggable dude walking down Sunset Boulevard. And “Game Night” –featuring a beat supplied by Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. and a whisper verse by Adam Green — narrates the singer’s habit of inviting friends together in LA for board games and trivia. (He even hosts a popular Sunday night pub quiz at Silverlake Mexican restaurant Malo.) “Har Mar is as much ‘Crappy Holidays’ as it is an album,” says Tillmann. “The place that I’m coming from isn’t going to change, and it all really is an extension of myself. There’s not too much of a division between Har Mar and Sean at this point. I guess it sort of fulfilled the prophecy: I’ve just become my own guy, and that’s what Har Mar records present to people.” -Jenny Eliscu
event::tags 21+
11:45 PM
to 12:45 AM
Miniature Tigers
108 schedule::attendees
Location
Lamberts
eventtype Music
Artists Miniature Tigers
event::about Miniature Tigers’ sound was forged in the bedroom of frontman Charlie Brand, only to quickly outgrow the space, with the band soon finding itself on stage, in the studio and signed to Phoenix’s Modern Art Records in short order. Brand’s lyrics – a mix of deeply personal insights and playful references to the disparate cultural artifacts that have informed his existence – and effortlessly constructed indie-pop arrangements have made fans in his native Phoenix and beyond. They stretch to Los Angeles, where he reconnected with drummer, collaborator and fellow charter member of the band Rick Schaier while living in Hollywood, and far beyond thanks to the Internet, which it seems people are into these days. Miniature Tigers’ debut album “Tell it to the Volcano” runs the lyrical gamut, taking inspiration from and referencing TV’s Lost (which rates a Dharma Initiative sticker on Brand’s acoustic) as easily as it probes the joy and heartbreak of Charlie’s own life, while managing not to take itself too seriously. Brand wrote the album while on the lam – not from the law, but rather from a relationship he described as “brutal.” He left Phoenix to clear his head, landing in Los Angeles and collaborating with his friend Rick to complete the long-gestating album. It was his catharsis – with cannibals and volcanoes stepping in for the real-world problems that had both beset and inspired him. In the end the album represents Charlie’s effort to codify, examine, and ultimately move past a 2-year stretch of his life. Charlie and Rick are joined in their live incarnation by a rotating cast of friends and collaborators for performances that seem to give equal time to playing songs and intra-band joking. They aim for a controlled chaos aesthetic that eschews “auto-pilot” at all costs. In an effort to further confound the expectations of those around the band, they chose to have their video directed by someone who had never helmed one before…or at least never an authorized music video. The band tapped “Yacht Rock” creator JD Ryznar to direct their video for Cannibal Queen in the hopes he would recreate the magic of his wildly popular Internet video series. Ryznar quickly assimilated the band’s aesthetic and turned in a video equal parts “Weird Science” and “Frankenstein,” to the band’s delight. “Tell it to the Volcano” is currently available on iTunes, as well as a limited-edition letterpressed CD package and on vinyl at shows and via the band’s web site. They’ll be touring through the winter of 2009, when the album will find its way to stores through an official retail release.
event::tags 18+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Cold War Kids
539 schedule::attendees
Location
Lustre Pearl
12:45 AM
to 1:45 AM
Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band
58 schedule::attendees
Location
Lamberts
eventtype Music
event::about KEVIN DEVINE With a musical repertoire that spans the spectrum from hushed finger-picked narratives to bombastic rockers, Kevin Devine is one of those rare talents who straddles a multitude of genres and feels equally at home in each. Whether he’s playing solo to hundreds of his devotees in a cramped NYC club, joining friends on stage at Lollapalooza or touring with artists varying from Rachel Yamagata to Brand New, Devine’s songs enrapture a diverse set of ears like few musicians. Born and raised in New York and currently dwelling in Brooklyn, Devine is a singer/songwriter who has been quietly honing his craft since the release of his first album in 2002. He’s since been adding idiosyncratic chapters to his unique success story by building his diehard international fanbase with incessant touring and a series of compelling releases that highlight his introspective lyrical wordplay, each displaying an impressive musical evolution. Brother's Blood, his fifth record and first with Manchester Orchestra's Favorite Gentlemen record label, is the most resounding evidence of that ethic and maturation - a sprawling, confident mission statement about conscience, culture, and personality. Brother's Blood is a response to the three years Devine spent touring relentlessly behind his major label debut, the Rob Schnapf-produced Put Your Ghost To Rest, initially released by Capitol/EMI in 2006 and later re-issued by Brand New's Procrastinate! Music Traitors following Devine's dismissal from Capitol during its bloody merger with Virgin. True to Devine’s character, he turned a potentially grisly outcome inside out and instead exited the label with a healthier and more thriving career than when he went in. Devine accomplished this feat the old fashioned way: playing close to 600 shows between June 2006 and December 2008, further broadening his appeal and versatility, and doing it all without the centralized support from a label. These shows offered him opportunities to share stages (and vans) with artists as diverse as AA Bondy, Annuals, Manchester Orchestra, Elf Power, Rachel Yamagata, Lucero and Corinne Bailey Rae. He appeared at The Sundance Film Festival alongside She & Him and Mandy Moore and at Austin City Limits with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Andrew Bird. He traversed the globe at a feverish pace: the UK with All-American Rejects, Australia with The Offspring, England and Ireland, Europe and Japan, and of course, the States. Back home, he triumphantly oversold two headline gigs at New York's Bowery Ballroom and was asked to join two very different groups of friends, Brand New AND Okkervil River, on their respective stages at Lollapalooza 2008. Somewhere in all that motion, Devine managed to whip 15 or so songs into shape and started visualizing what would become Brother's Blood. He recorded barebones acoustic versions of the tracks in early '08 and eventually rehearsed and demoed those with his erstwhile Goddamn Band (Brian Bonz on keys & percussion, Chris Bracco on bass, Mike Skinner on drums, Russell Smith on guitar, and Mike Strandberg on guitar) in their Brooklyn practice space all summer. Carving away at and layering ideas with producers Bracco & Skinner and engineer Dan Long, the band bunkered down in Williamsburg's Headgear Studios (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Au Revoir Simone, Son Volt) for the first two weeks of August. Devine consciously ceded more control of arrangement to his players, hoping to affect a more live, full-band feel for the first time on record. The results speak for themselves. Brother's Blood is both the next step and a break in form; it reflects the diverse talents and contributions of The Goddamn Band as much as it speaks to the scope of Devine's influences and commitment to exploring new stylistic territory. Lead single "I Could Be With Anyone" is a charging and hook-heavy pop song equally indebted to The Cars and Superchunk; "Another Bag Of Bones" (initially released as a Rob Schnapf-produced acoustic single around the ramp-up to the election) pins its dystopian and restless vision of a civilization in freefall to a dark and explosive groove before finding release in a choir's hopeful strain. Meanwhile, the title track is a massive and dynamic homage to the epic guitar freakouts of Neil Young and Built To Spill and the hypnotic and ominous "Carnival" sets the tone its with spacious, swirling flares of psychedelia – a dynamic exploration of tension and release which plays against a nightmarish hallucination about lost willpower and the fear of finally waking up to a reality that's even crazier than your dreams. But far from being one of Devine’s rockingest recordings to date, many of Brother's Blood’s finest moments are its quietest. Opener "All Of Everything, Erased" lays a bed of nimble and rhythmic finger-picking for its vivid description of a world left with no recourse but to cleanse itself of humanity and start over. "Fever Moon" is a sultry, Latin-influenced meditation on lust and its consequences that wouldn't seem out of place on a 1970s Leonard Cohen album, while "Murphy's Song" features a dazzling vocal turn from Jaymay that adds some jazz-era sensuality to the song's trumpet and piano-sprinkled Carribean lilt. On "Tomorrow's Just Too Late," Devine and Brand New's Jesse Lacey deliver a delicate and weaving full-song harmony that would make Simon & Garfunkel proud. Whether he’s joined in a duet, backed by his Goddamn Band, or singing quiet ruminations into his microphone alone with just his acoustic guitar, Devine deftly illustrates his unique versatility and breadth with each note. Brother’s Blood not only serves as a reminder of this but as the next step in his exciting evolution.
event::tags 18+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Marit Larsen
11 schedule::attendees
Location
Stephen F's Bar
eventtype Music
Artists Marit Larsen
event::about When you first start listening to Marit Larsen’s debute album "Under the Surface (2006)," you picture a shy young girl, peeking out from around a corner. You know that you’re only seeing a bit of what she has to offer. The more you listen, the more you realize just how intriguing both Larsen and her music really are. And then you just can’t wait to find out exactly what else she has up her sleeve. Larsen´s second solo album ”The Chase” was released in 2008, full of beautiful and playful music. Marit has created the album with tremendous grace, that comes across both in her songs and in her personality. Larsen makes the crowd feel like they are apart of something special, at every show. The shy, young girl with the great big talent has blossomed into a very rare flower, indeed. In 2009 she was nominated for two Norwegian Grammys, “Female of the year” and “Song of the year”. The single ”If A Song Could Get Me You” was no.1 i Germany for 5 weeks, and sold to gold in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. So did the Album with the same name. Marit toured all around Germany together for 6 weeks doing liveshows in the spring of 2010. The tour was followed up by a 7 week American promo and showcase tour, where she also released her singel through Sony/RCA Jive in March. Marit has just finished an amazing Festival summer. She started in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Norway and ended up in China. Visiting festivals such as Tollwood festival(DE), Midnattsrocken(NO), Lost weekend festival(NO) and Zhenjiang Midi Festival (China). Marit Larsen: Vocal, Piano, Acoustic guitar, Mandolin & Harmonica
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Surfer Blood
463 schedule::attendees
Location
Habana Bar Backyard
eventtype Music
Artists Surfer Blood
event::about Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, the quintet known as Surfer Blood had a breakout year in 2010 with the release of their debut album 'Astro Coast' in January 2010. Months prior to the actual release, Surfer Blood took the CMJ music festival by storm playing an incredible 12 shows. Spending the winter months leading up to their album release, Surfer Blood criss-crossed the nation on tour supporting Japandroids and Art Brut. Never breaking straight into the new year, getting a major boost from all around rave press reviews, including a 'Best New Music' tag from Pitchfork Media, the band continued their incessant touring. This year has taken these Floridians across Europe several times, as far as Japan for Summer Sonic and Australia for Splendour in the Grass festivals; they ended out the year with a support tour for Interpol. Because of their dedication, 12 months later Astro Coast is topping several year end lists. NPR deemed them "America's best new pop band", they made Rolling Stone's "Rookies of the Year" list, Filter Magazine listed their album as #7 of the year, plus making the list of numerous others: MySpace, NME, Urban Outfitters, Rough Trade Shop. Based on the longevity that the album stayed in PopMatter's rotation, they regard it as "unfuckwithable" and PrefixMag said, "Surfer Blood is the best '90s band working today." For 2011, Surfer Blood will return with an EP of new tunes to be released in late spring. More touring will inevitably ensue.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Thee Oh Sees
199 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Thee Oh Sees
event::about Thee Oh Sees are the latest incarnation of songwriter, singer, and guitarist John Dwyer's ever-evolving pop-folk psychedelic group. Dwyer, who hails from Providence, RI, has been active on the San Francisco indie scene since the late '90s, working with several bands, including the Coachwhips, Pink & Brown, Yikes , Up Its Alive, and Swords & Sandals, among others, and he formed OCS (which is an acronym for Orinoka Crash Suite, Orange County Sound, or whatever Dwyer decided it was on any given day) initially as a vehicle for the experimental instrumentals he was producing in his home studio. In time OCS morphed into an actual band, and worked under the usual flurry of names, most notably as the Oh Sees or the Ohsees , and eventually as Thee Oh Sees, featuring Dwyer on guitar and vocals, Brigid Dawson on vocals and tambourine, Petey Dammit (sometimes listed as Petey Dammit! on bass, and Mike Shoun on drums.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 PM
to 2:00 PM
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
224 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
event::about Joe Lewis is stuffed into a van with his six bandmates and one stranger, as they hurtle across Texas to a gig in Marfa. Most of the guys are sleeping now, content in the knowledge they've just made the record of their lives. All killer, no filler, the fittingly titled, take-no-prisoners Scandalous (Lost Highway)'once again produced by Jim Eno, moonlighting from his main gig as Spoon's drummer'is a churning slab of rock & roll, blues and funk, laced with a double shot of 100-proof punkitude. This band has gotten tight as a gnat's ass through nearly two years of barnstorming without a break. ÂWe've grown a lot as a band, and so has our fan base, the lanky, enigmatic Lewis acknowledges. ÂHopefully it's still going up, but it will ultimately be what we make of it. As the shows get bigger and we get bigger, we have to keep improving to meet the demand. If we can't do that, it won't go anywhere. From the look in Joe's eyes as he glances at the one-stoplight towns and endless open country of central Texas whizzing past, you can tell he knows whereof he speaks. While on the road, they also eagerly soaked up the worldly knowledge of touring mates the New York Dolls and Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm. ÂThe Dolls covered Bo Diddley and Sonny Boy Williamson, and so do we, says guitarist Zach Ernst, riding shotgun in the van, as he does in the band. ÂThat youthful, aggressive, unschooled thing is really appealing to us. That's what we like to listen to and what we're shooting for. We've had some lineup changes since the first record, but at its core, it's still the same band, and everyone's excited to move on to the next stage. Like his forebears, Lewis writes from direct, often bitter experience with unflinching veracity. The songs of Scandalous are littered with the debris of age-old issues: hard times and one-night stands, lying and cheating, redemption and revenge. Gritty, raunchy and real, his music is not for the squeamish, but experiencing it fully can be genuinely cathartic. The album opens with the funky fantasia ÂLivin' in the Jungle, as Joe wails with tonsil-shredding abandon over a rhythm section erupting like a tropical storm and horns honking like hyenas in heat. ÂI've always said that if I ever got rich, I would go buy a bunch of land in the Congo or the Amazon, build a nice house and have an Amazon woman to hang out with, he explains, straight-faced. On the following ÂI'm Gonna Leave You, the band sends a jolt of electricity through a Mississippi hill country blues template. ÂIt's about leavin' a girl, just gettin' out while you can, before the shit gets too thick, he says, punctuating the line with a wicked cackle. From there, it's all hands on deck, as one sonic assault after another rips into the eardrums and the pelvis all at once. The instant-classic highway boogie ÂMustang Ranch recounts, in sordid detail, an overnight drive between Salt Lake City and San Francisco, Joe spinning out the narrative as a revved-up talking blues. ÂIt was a long, ridiculous drive, and we got the idea of stopping at the Mustang Ranch, he recalls. ÂWe were like, 'Let's go, man'we got nothin' better to do.' So we stopped in there, and it was a really odd experience. Here, another quick laugh escapes Joe's lips. ÂWe figured out that we don't fit brothels that well, and the girls are all fuckin' busted. But nobody caught anything. Then we left, and we stopped in Reno at six in the morning. It was a freaky experience. We went into a casino and got a cheap breakfast, and all the burnt-out gamblers were walking the town like zombies out there in the early morning. There were even weird lights hovering in the sky. That song's a true story, pretty much. Lewis seems to be channeling Robert Johnson on ÂMessin', which turns on his spooky, low-down vocal and acoustic guitar. ÂI'm just an old-style blues fan, and I'm tryin' to do that kind of thing with it, he says, reeling off the names of his favorite practitioners: Lightnin' Hopkins, Junior Kimbrough, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf and Magic Sam. The album's biggest surprise is ÂYou Been Lyin', a torrid, politically-themed workout in the tradition of Parliament-Funkadelic and late-'60s Temptations. Featured on this track are the group vocals of the Relatives, a Dallas gospel funk band that made some criminally under-exposed records three decades ago. ÂThey're like the greatest band ever, says Joe, Âand I'm glad we got them on there, 'cause they made the track really sweet. Here and elsewhere, you can also pick up the influence of the Stooges, another of Lewis' touchstones, in the confrontational physicality of the performances. ÂPeople call us a soul band, but we're more of a rock & roll band, he points out. ÂWe feel like what we're doing is different from the soul bands with horn sections that are out there right now, Ernst adds. ÂWe always joke that we would do that kind of music, but we're not good enough: our guitars are too loud, we're too primitive on our instruments, and Joe is more of a shouter and a talking-blues guy than a smooth soul singer. So we're carving out our own thing because it's the only way that we can do it. We can't play it any cleaner or smoother'and we don't want to, either. Growing up in Austin and Round Rock, Joe took it all in'Delta and Chicago blues, Memphis soul, Detroit garage punk'and what came out the other end was, and is, unlike anything else out there. ÂI don't know, man'I just kinda dove into it, Lewis continues. ÂThese neighbors of mine were in this country band and they got to go on tour all the time, and I had to go to work in this stupid factory. I was like, 'Man, I gotta get in on that.' So I pulled a guitar down off the wall of a pawn shop where I was workin' at the time and learned stuff as I went along. The people I was playing with wanted to practice all the time, and I was like, 'No, man, let's get out there'I wanna try to do this shit.' I pretty much learned on stage. After years of struggle to get heard, things started moving fast for Lewis after he and Ernst put together the earliest incarnation of Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, naming themselves after a crusted container of honey they found on the floor of their Âdisgusting rehearsal room. They went out with Spoon after Britt Daniel caught a set, and their subsequent, Eno-produced EP caught the ear of Lost Highway's Kim Buie, who signed them to a record deal. Eno then helmed their 2009 debut album for the label, Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!, much of it cut live off the floor. ÂThe album manages to maximize every incendiary second of sonic sexuality the band is putting out, raved PopMatters' Christel Loar. ÂMake no mistake, Lewis knows his history, but he also knows his moment, too, and it's now. The Honeybears aren't afraid to mine the past to make music for the future. That spot-on assessment goes double now. ÂWe pride ourselves on keepin' our own style and staying true to the guys we look up to, says Lewis. ÂWe play the music that we like listening to. It's always about the music first. As night falls, the van pulls into Marfa, the musicians rub the sleep from their eyes and stretch their muscles, which will soon be put to use unloading their gear. This is what they live for'another night blowin' the roof in front of a houseful of boozed-up locals looking for a thrill. For the paying customers, it's a few hours of sweet relief. For Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, it's another long day and hot night in the life of a working band'seven hungry guys with their eyes on the far horizon.
event::tags All Ages
8:05 PM
to 9:05 PM
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
240 schedule::attendees
Location
ACL Live at The Moody Theater
eventtype Music
Artists Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
event::about Joe Lewis is stuffed into a van with his six bandmates and one stranger, as they hurtle across Texas to a gig in Marfa. Most of the guys are sleeping now, content in the knowledge they've just made the record of their lives. All killer, no filler, the fittingly titled, take-no-prisoners Scandalous (Lost Highway)'once again produced by Jim Eno, moonlighting from his main gig as Spoon's drummer'is a churning slab of rock & roll, blues and funk, laced with a double shot of 100-proof punkitude. This band has gotten tight as a gnat's ass through nearly two years of barnstorming without a break. ÂWe've grown a lot as a band, and so has our fan base, the lanky, enigmatic Lewis acknowledges. ÂHopefully it's still going up, but it will ultimately be what we make of it. As the shows get bigger and we get bigger, we have to keep improving to meet the demand. If we can't do that, it won't go anywhere. From the look in Joe's eyes as he glances at the one-stoplight towns and endless open country of central Texas whizzing past, you can tell he knows whereof he speaks. While on the road, they also eagerly soaked up the worldly knowledge of touring mates the New York Dolls and Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm. ÂThe Dolls covered Bo Diddley and Sonny Boy Williamson, and so do we, says guitarist Zach Ernst, riding shotgun in the van, as he does in the band. ÂThat youthful, aggressive, unschooled thing is really appealing to us. That's what we like to listen to and what we're shooting for. We've had some lineup changes since the first record, but at its core, it's still the same band, and everyone's excited to move on to the next stage. Like his forebears, Lewis writes from direct, often bitter experience with unflinching veracity. The songs of Scandalous are littered with the debris of age-old issues: hard times and one-night stands, lying and cheating, redemption and revenge. Gritty, raunchy and real, his music is not for the squeamish, but experiencing it fully can be genuinely cathartic. The album opens with the funky fantasia ÂLivin' in the Jungle, as Joe wails with tonsil-shredding abandon over a rhythm section erupting like a tropical storm and horns honking like hyenas in heat. ÂI've always said that if I ever got rich, I would go buy a bunch of land in the Congo or the Amazon, build a nice house and have an Amazon woman to hang out with, he explains, straight-faced. On the following ÂI'm Gonna Leave You, the band sends a jolt of electricity through a Mississippi hill country blues template. ÂIt's about leavin' a girl, just gettin' out while you can, before the shit gets too thick, he says, punctuating the line with a wicked cackle. From there, it's all hands on deck, as one sonic assault after another rips into the eardrums and the pelvis all at once. The instant-classic highway boogie ÂMustang Ranch recounts, in sordid detail, an overnight drive between Salt Lake City and San Francisco, Joe spinning out the narrative as a revved-up talking blues. ÂIt was a long, ridiculous drive, and we got the idea of stopping at the Mustang Ranch, he recalls. ÂWe were like, 'Let's go, man'we got nothin' better to do.' So we stopped in there, and it was a really odd experience. Here, another quick laugh escapes Joe's lips. ÂWe figured out that we don't fit brothels that well, and the girls are all fuckin' busted. But nobody caught anything. Then we left, and we stopped in Reno at six in the morning. It was a freaky experience. We went into a casino and got a cheap breakfast, and all the burnt-out gamblers were walking the town like zombies out there in the early morning. There were even weird lights hovering in the sky. That song's a true story, pretty much. Lewis seems to be channeling Robert Johnson on ÂMessin', which turns on his spooky, low-down vocal and acoustic guitar. ÂI'm just an old-style blues fan, and I'm tryin' to do that kind of thing with it, he says, reeling off the names of his favorite practitioners: Lightnin' Hopkins, Junior Kimbrough, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf and Magic Sam. The album's biggest surprise is ÂYou Been Lyin', a torrid, politically-themed workout in the tradition of Parliament-Funkadelic and late-'60s Temptations. Featured on this track are the group vocals of the Relatives, a Dallas gospel funk band that made some criminally under-exposed records three decades ago. ÂThey're like the greatest band ever, says Joe, Âand I'm glad we got them on there, 'cause they made the track really sweet. Here and elsewhere, you can also pick up the influence of the Stooges, another of Lewis' touchstones, in the confrontational physicality of the performances. ÂPeople call us a soul band, but we're more of a rock & roll band, he points out. ÂWe feel like what we're doing is different from the soul bands with horn sections that are out there right now, Ernst adds. ÂWe always joke that we would do that kind of music, but we're not good enough: our guitars are too loud, we're too primitive on our instruments, and Joe is more of a shouter and a talking-blues guy than a smooth soul singer. So we're carving out our own thing because it's the only way that we can do it. We can't play it any cleaner or smoother'and we don't want to, either. Growing up in Austin and Round Rock, Joe took it all in'Delta and Chicago blues, Memphis soul, Detroit garage punk'and what came out the other end was, and is, unlike anything else out there. ÂI don't know, man'I just kinda dove into it, Lewis continues. ÂThese neighbors of mine were in this country band and they got to go on tour all the time, and I had to go to work in this stupid factory. I was like, 'Man, I gotta get in on that.' So I pulled a guitar down off the wall of a pawn shop where I was workin' at the time and learned stuff as I went along. The people I was playing with wanted to practice all the time, and I was like, 'No, man, let's get out there'I wanna try to do this shit.' I pretty much learned on stage. After years of struggle to get heard, things started moving fast for Lewis after he and Ernst put together the earliest incarnation of Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, naming themselves after a crusted container of honey they found on the floor of their Âdisgusting rehearsal room. They went out with Spoon after Britt Daniel caught a set, and their subsequent, Eno-produced EP caught the ear of Lost Highway's Kim Buie, who signed them to a record deal. Eno then helmed their 2009 debut album for the label, Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!, much of it cut live off the floor. ÂThe album manages to maximize every incendiary second of sonic sexuality the band is putting out, raved PopMatters' Christel Loar. ÂMake no mistake, Lewis knows his history, but he also knows his moment, too, and it's now. The Honeybears aren't afraid to mine the past to make music for the future. That spot-on assessment goes double now. ÂWe pride ourselves on keepin' our own style and staying true to the guys we look up to, says Lewis. ÂWe play the music that we like listening to. It's always about the music first. As night falls, the van pulls into Marfa, the musicians rub the sleep from their eyes and stretch their muscles, which will soon be put to use unloading their gear. This is what they live for'another night blowin' the roof in front of a houseful of boozed-up locals looking for a thrill. For the paying customers, it's a few hours of sweet relief. For Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, it's another long day and hot night in the life of a working band'seven hungry guys with their eyes on the far horizon.
event::tags 18+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Noah and the Whale
243 schedule::attendees
Location
Lustre Pearl
eventtype Music
Artists Noah and the Whale
event::about Noah and the Whale Last Night on Earth In the early January of last year, Charlie Fink set to work on Noah and the Whale's third album. Holed up in a synagogue in East London, he had little to begin with - a few fragments, a sketch for a 10-minute song that resembled Street Hassle, and a set of lyrics begun on a New Year's Day train from Wales to London. But what little there was seemed to suggest the beginnings of something quite special, something markedly different to the songs they had written before. The continued maturation of Noah and the Whale has been a pleasing thing to follow - from the joyous burst of their debut, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, through the lovelorn sobriety of The First Days of Spring, it now reaches a kind of fruition on Last Night on Earth. Where The First Days of Spring was a contained and inward-looking record that moved at near-underwater speed, Last Night on Earth possesses a curiosity and a vibrancy, a romance and a restlessness, and a clutch of songs that mark out Fink as not just as one of the best songwriters of his generation, but also as a supremely gifted storyteller. These are tales of youth and ageing, of optimism and running away, as well of failure and pride. 'And it feels like his new life can start,' runs the chorus of No Distance Is Too Far. 'And it feels like heaven.' The album's strong narrative thread was in part inspired by Lou Reed's 1973 album Berlin as well as Tom Waits' 1992 record Bone Machine, and a little Arthur Russell thrown in for good measure. 'Just people songs,' is how Fink describes it. 'These are simple stories, so you could tell them in hundreds of different ways, and the way you tell them, that's sort of the music.' The way he tells them is at times broad-skied and anthemic - particularly on tracks such as L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N and Tonight's The Kind Of Night, while at others there are strokes of unabashed pop - Life Is Life, for example, or Just Me Before We Met. And at others still, such as on final track Old Joy, there is a sweet kind of wistfulness. Lyrically, they range from the nostalgic to the vital, songs charged with an urgency, a sense of movement, and an appetite for adventure and the unknown. It is, in many senses, a true coming of age record. 'I don't think that coming of age thing has been in anything I've done before,' Fink says. 'But from the beginning I wanted to write a record that had that excitement of being young and being in the night. I think it's that naivity - that feeling that things are happening everywhere except where you are, wondering what's out there in the wide world. It's when you're on a bus, you don't know where you're heading, you don't know what's at the end of it, and you have this fantasy that whatever's at the end of it is going to be remarkable and magnificent.' Certainly Noah and the Whale as a band now seem to have come of age. As the leaders of the same British folk-rock scene that spawned Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, and Emmy the Great, with this album they appear to stand perhaps a little taller and a little broader than their peers; these songs possess a maturity, and a new kind of wisdom: 'Tall buildings and a wife won't be enough for me,' Fink sings on Old Joy. 'There is more in the world to be found than dreams.' The personnel shifted a little for Last Night on Earth. Drummer Doug Fink left the band last year to concentrate on his medical career. 'He's my older brother, and there's so many roles he fulfils on the road, not just the drummer, so it's kind of hard,' Fink says of his absence. 'But he's the first person I go to if I need to consult someone, if I need someone's opinion, so he's still been a big part of this record Â
And I think he will come back eventually.' Co-produced by Fink and Jason Lader [Julian Casablancas, The Mars Volta] in Los Angeles, Last Night on Earth features backing vocals by Jen Turner from Here We Go Magic, and gospel vocals by the legendary Waters Sisters, who famously provided backing vocals for Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Starting Something. 'I was teaching them the vocals for Old Joy,' Fink recalls. 'One of the sisters came in and asked for a latte with six sugars  six sugars! - and she downed that, went in and gave the best vocal take I've ever heard.' Elsewhere, the record features Adam MacDougall of The Black Crowes on Moog and Rhodes, and legendary percussionist Lenny Castro. There is a strong cinematic element to Last Night on Earth - from the deliberately Twin Peaks air of Wild Thing to the album's cast of richly-drawn characters. In part this was fed by Fink's experience of directing the short film that accompanied The First Days of Spring. 'Film is such a different writing process, it infiltrates the way I write songs,' he explains. 'And a lot of them I imagined as scenes - Tonight's the Kind of Night I imagined as this guy running away from home and getting on a busÂ
' It is also a richly poetic record: last year, Fink read the work of Frank O'Hara for the first time, and fell in love with his poem Having A Coke With You. 'I wanted Life Is Life to have a feel of that, or a tempo. Just the notion of it. Having A Coke With You is I think a very romantic poem, and that's the only outwardly romantic song on the album, and so I wanted it to have the same approach.' The album's title is also a nod towards Charles Bukowski's poetry collection The Last Night of the Earth - Fink says he was attracted to the sense of 'loser's pride' in Bukowski's work. 'In my head,' he says, 'there is a link between Lou Reed's Berlin, and Bukowski's poetry.' The track Life Is Life, is another Bukowski reference, its title tipping its hat to his poem The Laughing Heart - a poem whose final lines seem to sum up this record quite perfectly: 'Your life is your life,' it runs. 'Know it while you have it. You are marvellous. The Gods wait to delight in you.' www.noahandthewhale.com
event::tags 21+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Sarah Jaffe
109 schedule::attendees
Location
Momo's
eventtype Music
Artists Sarah Jaffe
event::about Sarah Jaffe – Suburban Nature If there is one thing that Sarah Jaffe will never have to contend with it is the idea that she is a female singer for females. There was once a time when being a female singer meant you would undoubtedly be put into an all too snug box. Is she an angry singer? An activist singer? A singer for the victims or the singer your mom bonds with you over? To be honest, when Sarah’s new cd Suburban Nature is released on May 18th she will insert herself into and destroy all those boxes simultaneously, because Sarah is a truth singer …and no matter who or what we are, we all need, and want, our singers to be truth singers. Jaffe’s words and voice seem like they are speaking to you, only to you, yet they contain a universal appeal evidenced by the fact that she’s recently toured with Midlake and Norah Jones. Two completely different audiences whom Jaffe, equally endearing and confident, easily won over. Growing up in Red Oak, Texas might not be ideal circumstances for breeding the kind of talent that is encompassed in Sarah’s songs, but it does beg the question of nature verses nurture. What we have in us before we are even us, and what we interpret because of life circumstances. Writing since her early teens, many of the songs featured on Suburban Nature were written long before she could even enter the clubs where they are now performed. Interestingly enough the first single “Vulnerable,” was written when Sarah was only 17, long before even the material on her first EP, the acclaimed Even Born Again, was produced. Even so, it comprises everything that matters about her voice. If there is one thread that flows through all of Sarah’s work, it is grappling with the self-serving cycles that are in all of us, and the aftermath that those needs deal out. “I’m a fan of life’s wicked ironies. These things that reveal the truth from an aerial view nowhere near your perspective of the situation, and through these realizations you find redemption.” And so it is with Suburban Nature. From opening track “Before You Go,” everything sounds as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon, the sonic spread covering every degree of the mix. It’s thick enough to feel when you breathe, but spatial enough to allow for the one thing that truly matters with singer/songwriters: their voice. When talking to the albums producer and engineer John Congleton (St Vincent, Polyphonic Spree, Explosions in the Sky, Clinic) about the spacious feel of the album, he had this to say on the matter: “I think it was intentional. Both Sarah’s and my feelings on this was that the vocals should be the focal point and have as much space as possible, while the music provided an emotional backdrop.” Skilled players such as Kris Youmans - cello (Bill Callahan, The Paper Chase, Micah P Hinson) Becki Howard – violin (The Crash That Took Me) Jeff Ryan – percussion (The Baptist Generals, St Vincent, Pleasant Grove) and Robert Gomez - guitar (as himself) provide this essential emotional backdrop. Just take a listen to “Pretender” for an example of the power and talent contained in this group of players. Layers of moveable music float in, out, under and over lines such as “So here we stand, like flowers in the cold, wilt and wither/Here's your chance/Tell me what you want/I'm a forgiver.” In other situations the group provides the perfect backbeat so Sarah is free to spin yarn that might not always be fact, but like we said, is certainly truth. On “Clementine,” she sings, “We were young, we were young, we were young, we didn't care.” Although only 24 you actually believe her. You believe her because you believe that no matter what her actual age, she lived through the war of a relationship or fifty that aged her to her core, and now her soul speaks to yours in the places where you have aged, and set down roots that flow as grid in a suburb becoming part of your nature. This is why we need singers like Sarah Jaffe and albums like Suburban Nature: We need a truth singer to be a soothsayer, and help heal us in the broken places of our time.
event::tags 18+
9:45 PM
to 10:45 PM
The Civil Wars
161 schedule::attendees
Location
Victorian Room at The Driskill
eventtype Music
Artists The Civil Wars
event::about THE CIVIL WARS Barton Hollow by Chris Willman In some ways, music doesn’t get much more modest or minimalist than it is in the hands of The Civil Wars, a duo comprised of California-to-Nashville transplant Joy Williams and her Alabaman partner, John Paul White. They travel without a backup band, and on their first full-length album, Barton Hollow, the bare-bones live arrangements that fans hear on the road are fleshed out with just the barest of acoustic accoutrements. Each song is an intimate conversation, and no third wheels or dinner-party chatter are going to interrupt that gorgeous, haunting hush. On the other hand, there’s been something distinctly loud about the duo’s introduction to the world, even prior to the album’s release. Their signature song “Poison & Wine” was heard on Grey’s Anatomy—in the foreground, in its entirety, over a key climactic montage, prompting hundreds of thousands of viewers to Google the mystery music. And they got a wholly unsolicited endorsement when America’s biggest pop star gave The Civil Wars a seal of approval. After first tweeting her love for the duo, fellow Nashvillian Taylor Swift included “Poison & Wine” as a selection in her official iTunes playlist, saying, “I think this is my favorite duet. It’s exquisite.” Swift took the words right out of the folk-country-Americana world’s mouth. If it looks like The Civil Wars’ appeal might cast a net that extends well beyond the typical audience for acoustically based music, that may be due to the inherent sensibilities Williams and White bring to their collaboration, which are quite disparate, if not necessarily warring. Both were gigging and recording on their own prior to teaming up a year and a half ago, neither solo career quite suggesting what their conjoined sound would turn out to be. “I do naturally bend pop,” says Williams, who adds that she “grew up on Billie Holliday and The Beach Boys.” White, meanwhile, was raised on Kristofferson, Cash, and Townes Van Zandt by his retro-country-favoring dad. “Somehow we’re pulling from each other what we crave and what our strengths are,” he says. If the music ultimately leans more toward White’s native South than Williams’ northern Cali roots, he says, “I think Joy’s got some hillbillies in her ancestry or something like that. There’s a song on our record called ‘My Father’s Father’ that we wrote on the day of the inauguration down in Muscle Shoals, not long after we got together. I started playing the guitar figure and she starting singing this amazing Appalachian kind of melody, and I’m like, ‘Don’t even pretend that you’re the pop girl and you come out with shit like that!’ I don’t know where this stuff is coming from, but she’s drawing it from somewhere, and it’s amazing.” “Poison & Wine” isn’t just The Civil Wars’ breakout song. It’s also a thematic declaration of intent for this utterly complementary odd couple, encapsulating everything suggested in the duo’s name when it comes to exploring the conflicts that arise as part of couplehood. Speaking of which: They aren’t, that—a couple, that is. But they’re far from insulted if you mistake them for An Item in the storied tradition of the Swell Season, Richard and Linda Thompson, or other famous duos whose on-again, off-again relationships offstage complicated their stage relations. “A lot of people think that we’re married, and I think that’s actually quite flattering, to be honest,” says White. “Because we don’t want people to think that we’re up here acting and feigning the emotions that we write and sing about and show on stage. But one of the things that really make this special in our eyes is that if she and I were in a relationship together, it'd be a totally different act. We would write totally different songs. I don’t think we would be able to go on stage every night and sing ‘I don’t love you.’ I don’t think a healthy relationship could withstand that every single night. There’s areas we can delve into that wouldn’t make sense for somebody that’s till-death-do-us-part. I think there’s also a tension there that wouldn’t be there if it was something that was just rote, something that was an everyday relationship. We try to use that to our advantage.” “Poison & Wine” fits the paradigm of subject matter too true to be spoken, as opposed to sung. “That song probably does sum us up—The Civil Wars, the name of the band—as well as any song that we’ve written,” White says. It’s the one song on the album written with an outside collaborator, their friend Chris Lindsey. “We’re all married, and we were all talking about the good, the bad and the ugly, and just felt like: What would you say to someone if you were actually brutally honest—the things that you could never say because it would turn them away or let the cat out of the bag or reveal yourself to be weaker? What would you actually say if you had this invisible curtain around you and could just scream it in somebody’s face and they’d actually never hear it? We were all being very painfully honest, because we’re all very comfortable around each other and know that things like that never leave the room, except in a song. I’m pretty proud of that song, to be honest.” When “Poison & Wine” was heard in its entirety on Grey’s Anatomy—versus in the background, for a few seconds, as Williams and White had expected—they knew that if the show’s audience liked what they heard, it would put their search skills to the test. The title only pops up in a verse, not the chorus, so it involved some ingenuity or intuition to track the tune down. Fortunately, viewers proved up to the test of finding, and choosing, their “Poison.” At last count, the song’s official YouTube video had been viewed 400,000 times. White and Williams met in 2008 on what he describes as a “blind date, getting stuck in a room together, not knowing anything about each other.” This was a strictly professional blind date. As Williams recalls, “I got a call for what’s called a writing camp, where several writers were called together to work on trying to write several radio singles for a particular country band. Though I live in Nashville, I worked mostly in L.A. and came more out of the pop world, so I was like, why did they call me? John Paul definitely wasn’t bringing a Music Row sensibility in when he was coming into the write, either, but neither of us knew that about each other. In that room, it was almost 20 writers, basically drawing straws and getting to know each other a little bit. And when he started singing, I somehow knew where he was heading musically and could follow him, without ever having met him before. And that had never happened to me.” “I’ve done lots of co-writes and collaborative situations, but I’d never felt that weird spark,” agrees White—“that weird familiarity like we’d been in a family band or something most of our lives. The beautiful part of it was that neither one of us would let on, so we both played it cool for a while, saying ‘That went well, we should write another,” and so on. I worked up enough nerve to—so to speak—ask her out. But there was a lot of scuffing my heel on the floor and ‘I don’t know what you’re doing for a while, but I’ve got this guitar, and you sing pretty good, but you probably don’t want to. You’re so much better than I am. Never mind. I’m just gonna go.’ Luckily she felt the same way.” Months later, they did their first show as The Civil Wars at the French Quarter Café in Nashville—where their future producer, Charlie Peacock, was in attendance and definitely taking notice. Their second show was at a club called Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia, and it was attended by roughly 100,000 fans. At least, that’s how many people have downloaded Live at Eddie’s Attic, a free digital album, from their website. The set included eight originals plus a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love.” “We didn’t even rehearse that much for t…
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Bright Light Social Hour
102 schedule::attendees
Location
Momo's
eventtype Music
Artists The Bright Light Social Hour
event::about The Bright Light Social Hour is an American rock band from Austin, Texas. Born out of a university art-rock collective, The Bright Light Social Hour has evolved into an unabashedly wide-screen rock group, melding fists-up rock and roll with muscular funk, soul, and psychedelia. Named 'Best Indie Band' at the 2010 Austin Music Awards, the Central Texas-raised young men of The Bright Light Social Hour have built their growing reputation through several EPs and exhilarating widely-acclaimed live shows, including the 2009 Austin City Limits Festival. In culmination of their long, studied development, the band is releasing their debut full-length album, simply titled "The Bright Light Social Hour." Recorded in five studios around Austin during summer 2010, the album is founded on sun-drenched optimism, raucous youth, and an innovative brew of American music of varying types - classic rock, contemporary indie, rhythm and blues, dance, and soul. Producer Danny Reisch of Good Danny's utilized the best elements of vintage and modern recording to achieve a sound both forward-looking and evocative of 1970s hi-fi. The first track, "Shanty," pairs southern rock with hard disco, featuring the searing slide licks of guitarist Curtis Roush. Following the lean, exuberant stomp of "Bare Hands Bare Feet," the band settles into the dark psychedelic-funk of "La Piedra De La Iguana," led by keyboardist A.J. Vincent's dusky vocal and Farfisa organ work. Throughout the middle of the record, the solemn rhythm and blues of "Detroit" is juxtaposed with "Back And Forth," a four-on-the-floor disco-funk romp. On "Garden Of The Gods," the album's penultimate 10-minute epic, the band evolves from stately ballroom Americana to an expansive, ensemble anthem, conjuring up their limber and unrelenting live sets. The fiery "Rhubarb Jam" closes out the record, featuring the agile, booming funk of bassist Jack O'Brien and drummer Joseph Mirasole. The Bright Light Social Hour will be touring nationwide in support of their debut album throughout 2011. Replete with their vital sound, deep brotherhood, and ever-growing facial hair, the band is steadfast in their singular aim - enduring rock and roll.
event::tags 18+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Spinto Band
82 schedule::attendees
Location
Mi Casa Cantina
eventtype Music
Artists The Spinto Band
event::about The Spinto Band have just competed their third full length album. The recordings were self-produced in their Delaware studio over the course of 2010. In the coming months they are preparing for the release of the album and an accompanying tour. In addition, the band helped create the soundtrack for the 2011 film The Beast Pageant.
event::tags 18+
10:15 PM
to 11:15 PM
Cubic Zirconia
21 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar-Palm Door
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Kat Edmonson
38 schedule::attendees
Location
Elephant Room
eventtype Music
Artists Kat Edmonson
event::about Kat Edmonson's first album, "Take to the Sky" made many national top 10 lists of 2009, became a top seller on iTunes and Amazon, and debuted at #21 on the Billboard jazz charts in the first week of it's release. After the success of her freshman debut, Edmonson went on to perform with Willie Nelson, open for Smokey Robinson and headline at the 2010 Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan. Edmonson also developed a friendship with fellow Texan, Lyle Lovett after Lovett saw one of her shows in Austin. She opened for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band for a portion of their 2010 summer tour and performed the winter classic, "Baby It's Cold Outside," with Lovett on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in December of 2010. Her single release, 'Lucky', appeared on the award-winning Showtime series, United States of Tara. Edmonson has thus far released all of her music on the record label that she co-founded in 2009 and continues to operate independently without a label. Recently, Edmonson was honored with a gift from METAlliance to record her new album for two days at Avatar Studios in New York City with the legendary Al Schmitt and Phil Ramone. She launched a Kickstarter campaign on March 1 to help raise funds for her second album. This campaign will continue through April 1. Visit http://kck.st/if2wGJ to find out how to help.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Tapes n Tapes
300 schedule::attendees
Location
Rusty Spurs
eventtype Music
Artists Tapes n Tapes
event::about Tapes ‘n Tapes is a rock band from Minneapolis, MN, made up of Josh Grier on guitar and lead vocals, Matt Kretzmann on keys and horns, Erik Appelwick on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Jeremy Hanson on percussion. Grier said he formed the band in 2003, to “have fun with my friends. I always wanted to see if I could play music with others and for others.” Grier and his buddies amassed “tapes ‘n tapes” of noodling, experimental jams and declared themselves officially a band. In the winter of 2004, the band now known as Tapes ‘n Tapes bought some recording equipment and headed out to a rustic cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. They recorded their self-titled, now long out of print, seven song EP in three days. Songs like “Beach Girls” and “50’s Parking” from the EP are still in their live set today. Next up for the band was recording their critically acclaimed follow up, The Loon. Appelwick recorded, mixed and produced the eleven song record with the band in one week at a friend’s home studio. The Loon came out in November of 2005 on ibid records, and no one was ready for what came next. People started to notice the foursome’s jangly, melodic brand of rock and the band started touring – gaining more and more attention from music critics and fans all over the world. Even the Thin White Duke took notice. “’Insistor’ is the first single, and it's cracking. It was a slow grower, but once that chorus digs in there's really no escape,” said Mr. David Bowie. The prestigious XL Recordings re-released The Loon in July of 2006, the same month Tapes ‘n Tapes made their national television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman. The band then toured around the world for the next few years- playing shows with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Spoon, Cold War Kids, The Black Keys, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Wrens. In 2006 they were honored to play Reading/Leeds, and 2007 saw them rock out at Lollapalooza and Coachella. When starting to work out songs for their follow up, Walk It Off, the band was asked who their dream producer was. The obvious answer to them was Mr. Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT). With twelve songs in hand, the band made the jaunt to upstate New York to live and work with Fridmann for two amazing weeks- one week in September 2007 to record and one week in October 2007 to mix. However, years of touring, the political climate, and distance from friends and family had changed the band, and given them a different point of view- one that seemed to pervade their sound. Spin praised the record saying, “the tunes are tighter and performances far more dynamic and aggressive…..they can now pull off jittery punk and understated, graceful melancholy.” XL released Walk It Off in April of 2008, on the same day the band made their debut on Conan O’Brien. After touring and supporting Walk It Off for the following year, it was time for a little R & R- rest and relaxation. They purposefully took their time and tried to get back to a place where the band was fun, and not work. They also decided to go back to their roots and do everything on their own, with no label involvement. They cut ties with XL, and re-launched ibid records, their own label which initially released The Loon. The brothers tapes had saved their pennies over the years and set out to make the record they’ve always wanted to make – Outside. They wanted to record at home and self-produce, which they did over two weeks at The Terrarium in Minneapolis, MN in March of 2010. The next step was getting the talented Mr. Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) to lend his ears to the mix. Grier spent two more weeks in Bridgeport, CT, while Katis mixed the record to perfection. The result is twelve songs that are playful and melodic, while also capturing the essence and energy of their live show. Grier said, “We had a great time making Outside and we wanted our enjoyment of the process to be audible in the recording, and I think we succeeded.” One thing is for sure, Tapes ‘n Tapes feel like they are making music for the right reasons – fun and pure love for music. And as Grier always says, “Everything else is gravy.” Outside will be released on January 11, 2011.
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
226 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
eventtype Music
Artists Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
event::about Thao and the ever-versatile Get Down Stay Down (Adam Thompson on bass, keys and additional guitar, and Willis Thompson on drums and percussion) return with the follow up to their critically lauded and riotously applauded previous album, 'We Brave Bee Stings and All', the breakout success and best-selling record of 2008 for Kill Rock Stars. With super-producer and friend Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Bill Frisell, Spoon) again at the helm, Know Better Learn Faster perfectly captures the band as their more mature, tastefully raucous, tastefully subdued and musically adventurous selves. Honed, trimmed and tightened over the last year and a half of constant touring, the now-trio delivers Thao's cleverly crafted and emotionally evocative songs with vibrant, innovative instrumentation, incredible energy and a still-acutely-solid sense of what sounds good. The new batch of songs spans all genres and influences, all the while staying faithful to their distinct style, sharp wit, and the infectious and enamoring exuberance of their renowned live shows. But the band can be serious too. Know Better Learn Faster is in many ways a boisterous, frenzied, and resigned break-up record, and with that territory comes a few songs wherein Thao does not employ her trademark method of juxtaposing brighter melodies with melancholic content. 'A few of these are just straightforwardly sad. Sometimes there's not much room to mince words and music when you feel like shit,' she says. The diverse and wide-ranging songwriting only helps to showcase the trio's formidable musicianship: all members have stepped up and expanded their repertoires to fill out the trio's sound. To further help the cause, the band was thrilled and humbled to enlist album guests Andrew Bird, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper, Laura Veirs, Horse Feathers, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Jenny Conlee of The Decemberists, and close friend and new 4AD artist Tune-Yards. Know Better Learn Faster is a deeply felt, honestly rendered audit of the end of one or any number of relationships. Thao says: 'We are thankful for the opportunity to have explored and then purged all crippling tensions and anxiety inherent in such dramas and hope you enjoy the scrappy by-product.' *** 'Packs a subtle punch, sweet but not sappy.' - Spin 'Elliptical lyrics, bright guitar work.' - The Wall Street Journal 'Worn down by the endless pitfalls of romance? Thao Nguyen most definitely is not.' Time Out New York "Like tea and honey spiked with a healthy shot of whiskey.' Elle
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Okkervil River
450 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
eventtype Music
Artists Okkervil River
event::about "The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing," frontman Will Sheff says about Okkervil River's newest album. "I produced it myself so that I could extend the songwriting process all the way through to the very last second of recording, so the songs would never really stop changing." The resulting record, 'I am Very Far,' is a startling break from anything this band has done before. By turns terrifying and joyous, violent and serene, grotesque and romantic, it's a celebration of forces beyond our control. When Okkervil River released their breakthrough 'Black Sheep Boy' in 2005, Uncut wrote that "Sheff's novelistic lyrics and the dexterous blend of country, folk and nervy indie-rock suggest a band approaching the peak of their powers." A New York Times piece on their 2007 follow-up 'The Stage Names' (and its companion album 'The Stand Ins') echoed, "Sheff writes like a novelist," and Pitchfork called him, "One of the best lyric-writers in indie rock." But on 'I am Very Far,' Sheff emerges not only as a songwriter of the highest caliber, but a producer and arranger of singular vision. Abandoning the tidy conceptual arcs of Okkervil River's previous albums, 'I am Very Far' is a monolithic, darkly ambiguous work, one that doesn't readily offer up its secrets. Work on 'I am Very Far' started in early 2009, after a year spent on the music of others. Sheff contributed vocals to The New Pornographer's album 'Together,' wrote a song for Norah Jones' 'The Fall,' produced an upcoming album for Brooklyn-based Bird of Youth, and helmed the Roky Erickson record 'True Love Cast Out All Evil,' for which his album notes received a GRAMMY nomination. "I'd never worked with Roky before and never produced someone else's record before. It was a life-changing experience," Sheff recalls, "When it was over I felt both completely drained and completely inspired." Immediately upon wrapping up work and leaving Erickson's company, Sheff drove to his home state of New Hampshire for lengthy isolated writing sessions. "I wanted to go back home and re-start writing again, like I'd never written a song previously," he says, "and I wanted the music and lyrics to be both completely wedded together and a little bit beyond my control. I kept trying to write from the state of mind of someone who had just been born, that feeling of being very young and being aware of not existing before a certain moment, which is a feeling I remember having as a kid." Sheff emerged from the writing process with 30 or so songs, which he narrowed down to 18. In contrast to Okkervil River's usual practice of holing up in one studio for months on end, he opted for a series of short, high-intensity sessions, each in a different location, each employing completely different methods than the one before it. For songs like "Rider" and "Wake and Be Fine," Sheff gathered together a massive version of Okkervil River – two drummers, two pianists, two bassists, and seven guitarists, all playing live in one room – and led them on a week of live-in-the-studio marathon session, performing a single song obsessively over and over for as many as 12 hours to capture just the right take. Songs like "Show Yourself" and "Hanging from a Hit" were worked out in improvisational sessions with the core band, minimally recorded to 8-track tape, and then re-structured and re-written in the editing process. For the strange science-fiction parable "White Shadow Waltz," Sheff self-recorded the entire song and then had Okkervil River re-record every instrumental track on top of that. After basic-tracking was done, Sheff overdubbed the songs with the band's largest instrumental palette to date – not only choral elements and orchestral colors like strings, tympani, tuba and bassoon, but also file cabinets thrown across the room, unreeled rolls of duct tape, and, on "Piratess," a solo created out of a fast-forwarding and rewinding boombox. Finishing the record from home, Sheff constantly edited and reworked the album, reinventing the song structures, re-recording vocals, re-writing until the very last minute, reshaping even the tiniest of details, ultimately creating an album that plays not only as a lush, seamless epic, but also as the most deeply personal effort of his career. What can listeners expect? Richer and weirder than 'The Stage Names' and deeper and moodier than even 'Black Sheep Boy,' 'I am Very Far' is dense, fragmented, opaque. A reverie of uncertainty, it feels at once disorienting and oddly familiar, threatening and friendly. Okkervil River have thrown away all maps and compasses but they continue to chart their way, unblinking, toward destinations unknown.
event::tags All Ages
2:00 PM
to 3:00 PM
Tapes n Tapes
242 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists Tapes n Tapes
event::about Tapes ‘n Tapes is a rock band from Minneapolis, MN, made up of Josh Grier on guitar and lead vocals, Matt Kretzmann on keys and horns, Erik Appelwick on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Jeremy Hanson on percussion. Grier said he formed the band in 2003, to “have fun with my friends. I always wanted to see if I could play music with others and for others.” Grier and his buddies amassed “tapes ‘n tapes” of noodling, experimental jams and declared themselves officially a band. In the winter of 2004, the band now known as Tapes ‘n Tapes bought some recording equipment and headed out to a rustic cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. They recorded their self-titled, now long out of print, seven song EP in three days. Songs like “Beach Girls” and “50’s Parking” from the EP are still in their live set today. Next up for the band was recording their critically acclaimed follow up, The Loon. Appelwick recorded, mixed and produced the eleven song record with the band in one week at a friend’s home studio. The Loon came out in November of 2005 on ibid records, and no one was ready for what came next. People started to notice the foursome’s jangly, melodic brand of rock and the band started touring – gaining more and more attention from music critics and fans all over the world. Even the Thin White Duke took notice. “’Insistor’ is the first single, and it's cracking. It was a slow grower, but once that chorus digs in there's really no escape,” said Mr. David Bowie. The prestigious XL Recordings re-released The Loon in July of 2006, the same month Tapes ‘n Tapes made their national television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman. The band then toured around the world for the next few years- playing shows with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Spoon, Cold War Kids, The Black Keys, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Wrens. In 2006 they were honored to play Reading/Leeds, and 2007 saw them rock out at Lollapalooza and Coachella. When starting to work out songs for their follow up, Walk It Off, the band was asked who their dream producer was. The obvious answer to them was Mr. Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT). With twelve songs in hand, the band made the jaunt to upstate New York to live and work with Fridmann for two amazing weeks- one week in September 2007 to record and one week in October 2007 to mix. However, years of touring, the political climate, and distance from friends and family had changed the band, and given them a different point of view- one that seemed to pervade their sound. Spin praised the record saying, “the tunes are tighter and performances far more dynamic and aggressive…..they can now pull off jittery punk and understated, graceful melancholy.” XL released Walk It Off in April of 2008, on the same day the band made their debut on Conan O’Brien. After touring and supporting Walk It Off for the following year, it was time for a little R & R- rest and relaxation. They purposefully took their time and tried to get back to a place where the band was fun, and not work. They also decided to go back to their roots and do everything on their own, with no label involvement. They cut ties with XL, and re-launched ibid records, their own label which initially released The Loon. The brothers tapes had saved their pennies over the years and set out to make the record they’ve always wanted to make – Outside. They wanted to record at home and self-produce, which they did over two weeks at The Terrarium in Minneapolis, MN in March of 2010. The next step was getting the talented Mr. Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) to lend his ears to the mix. Grier spent two more weeks in Bridgeport, CT, while Katis mixed the record to perfection. The result is twelve songs that are playful and melodic, while also capturing the essence and energy of their live show. Grier said, “We had a great time making Outside and we wanted our enjoyment of the process to be audible in the recording, and I think we succeeded.” One thing is for sure, Tapes ‘n Tapes feel like they are making music for the right reasons – fun and pure love for music. And as Grier always says, “Everything else is gravy.” Outside will be released on January 11, 2011.
event::tags All Ages
7:30 PM
to 8:30 PM
Bright Eyes
551 schedule::attendees
Location
Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
7:30 PM
to 8:30 PM
The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger
87 schedule::attendees
Location
Elysium
eventtype Music
Artists The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger
event::about The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger are Sean Lennon & Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Their debut album, Acoustic Sessions, shows their love of quirky and whimsical '60s folk pop, reminiscent at times of Syd Barrett, Incredible String Band and Simon & Garfunkel.
event::tags 21+
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
The Bright Light Social Hour
96 schedule::attendees
Location
Austin Music Hall
eventtype Music
Artists The Bright Light Social Hour
event::about The Bright Light Social Hour is an American rock band from Austin, Texas. Born out of a university art-rock collective, The Bright Light Social Hour has evolved into an unabashedly wide-screen rock group, melding fists-up rock and roll with muscular funk, soul, and psychedelia. Named 'Best Indie Band' at the 2010 Austin Music Awards, the Central Texas-raised young men of The Bright Light Social Hour have built their growing reputation through several EPs and exhilarating widely-acclaimed live shows, including the 2009 Austin City Limits Festival. In culmination of their long, studied development, the band is releasing their debut full-length album, simply titled "The Bright Light Social Hour." Recorded in five studios around Austin during summer 2010, the album is founded on sun-drenched optimism, raucous youth, and an innovative brew of American music of varying types - classic rock, contemporary indie, rhythm and blues, dance, and soul. Producer Danny Reisch of Good Danny's utilized the best elements of vintage and modern recording to achieve a sound both forward-looking and evocative of 1970s hi-fi. The first track, "Shanty," pairs southern rock with hard disco, featuring the searing slide licks of guitarist Curtis Roush. Following the lean, exuberant stomp of "Bare Hands Bare Feet," the band settles into the dark psychedelic-funk of "La Piedra De La Iguana," led by keyboardist A.J. Vincent's dusky vocal and Farfisa organ work. Throughout the middle of the record, the solemn rhythm and blues of "Detroit" is juxtaposed with "Back And Forth," a four-on-the-floor disco-funk romp. On "Garden Of The Gods," the album's penultimate 10-minute epic, the band evolves from stately ballroom Americana to an expansive, ensemble anthem, conjuring up their limber and unrelenting live sets. The fiery "Rhubarb Jam" closes out the record, featuring the agile, booming funk of bassist Jack O'Brien and drummer Joseph Mirasole. The Bright Light Social Hour will be touring nationwide in support of their debut album throughout 2011. Replete with their vital sound, deep brotherhood, and ever-growing facial hair, the band is steadfast in their singular aim - enduring rock and roll.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Matt Nathanson
43 schedule::attendees
Location
Cedar Street Courtyard
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Lemurs
41 schedule::attendees
Location
The Marq
eventtype Music
Artists The Lemurs
event::about Coming up at a time when the dance-rock wave was reaching its crest, the Lemurs initially drew comparisons to Bloc Party, The Faint, Franz Ferdinand, and the Killers. But for every synth melody or dance beat employed, the Lemurs find a counterbalance of raw, driving guitar and frenetic rhythm that imbues their music with a crackling atmospheric sheen and anxious intensity. The result is a fast paced, layered sound that owes as much to the pop lushness of My Morning Jacket as to the broader explorations of Television. With the recent addition of What Made Milwaukee Famous singer Michael Kingcaid, The Lemurs are back in the studio recording a full-length set for 2011 release. "This five piece from Texas’ BBQ-loving capitol city is ready to burst out onto the national stage…This shit has alternative “radio hit” written all over it" -TheTripwire.com “Unlike other music in the genre, there are plenty of listens in this album as it contains a depth that I thought impossible” -The Onion “The Lemurs expertly alternate between guitar driven synth-rock and memorable power pop ditties….An enterprising Austin band as equally fitting on a bill with The Smiths as with Bloc Party” -The Austinist
event::tags 21+
10:45 PM
to 11:45 PM
Bowling For Soup
98 schedule::attendees
Location
The Phoenix
eventtype Music
Artists Bowling For Soup
event::about Talking with Bowling for Soup singer Jaret Reddick, you may not immediately get the sense that this affable, down-to-earth Texan fronts a Grammy- and Emmy-nominated pop/punk band with over a million album sales to their credit. “If you compare our first album to our 10th one, you could be like, ‘Let’s see... Well, their voices finally changed, and they got a lot better musically, but they still sound like the same guys to me,” Reddick says, the grin audible in his North Texas drawl. “Man, I would hope we’re still the same guys! Can you imagine what a bummer it’d be if we weren’t?” Frankly, we can’t—and on their 10th studio album, Sorry for Partyin’, Bowling for Soup prove that no matter what lame new trends may lurk outside their studio walls, they’ve got the hits, fits, shits and giggles to keep coming out ahead. From side-splittingly funny double entendres (the I-can’t-believe-they-got-away-with-that lead single “My Wena”) to call-and-response jams you’ll undoubtedly be hearing in high schools worldwide (“No Hablo Inglés”), Sorry for Partyin’ features some of the funniest, most infectious songs of BFS’ 15-year career. Of course, the album also packs some of the strongest, most confident songwriting in BFS’ catalog, proving once again that these guys are masters of their craft. “We’ve created our niche, and our niche is us,” says Reddick, who formed Bowling for Soup in 1994 and today rounds out the Denton, Texas-based quartet with guitarist Chris Burney, bassist Erik Chandler and drummer Gary Wiseman. “We know there are lots of people out there who think guys in their 30s shouldn’t be writing about stuff like their ‘Wena’ and farts and beers and chicks.” (Incidentally, you’ll find all of the above on Sorry for Partyin’.) “But I say why not? What should guys in their 30s be writing about? The economy? War? Organic food versus non-organic? We like funny movies, and we like to drink beer and talk smack about each other’s moms. There’s nothing contrived about it—this is who we are.” For anyone else who thinks humor doesn’t belong in music, let’s also remember that this is who BFS are: A worldwide phenomenon with a string of hit singles (including 2006’s “High School Never Ends” and the 2004 MTV and radio smash “1985”) to their credit. A fan-favorite live act whose chemistry is so innate they’ve never had to prepare a set list. And a TV- and movie-soundtrack juggernaut whose Emmy-nominated contribution to Disney’s Phineas and Ferb is literally the most widely heard cartoon theme song on the planet. Quite a step up from the salad days when they were handing out demos in Warped Tour parking lots—even if the motives behind the music have stayed pure since then. “There was nobody in Texas that sounded like us in 1994,” Reddick remembers. “Obviously you had the Orange County, CA, explosion that we felt a part of, because we were all ripping off the same bands. But as all the bands from that era started finding success, people started getting super-serious and making these really dreary or angry records. I’m not saying I don’t like that stuff, but for us it’s always been a case of ‘Let’s never do that!’ We want to be that point of somebody’s day where they can get off work and put us in and think, “Okay, yeah: Everything else sucks, but this is awesome.” Fittingly, “awesome” was an operative word during the Sorry for Partyin’ sessions. Working with producer Linus of Hollywood (also Reddick’s partner in the year-old Crappy Records label), BFS cut the album in a whirlwind 24 days at Wire Recording Studio in Austin, Texas, where the ideas flowed as readily as... Well—let’s just say there’s a reason they titled one of Sorry’s singles “Hooray for Beer.” “We had close to a two-year break between the last record (2006’s The Great Burrito Extortion Case) and writing for this one,” Reddick says, “so we were ready to have some fun.” The anything-goes atmosphere lent itself to some interesting collaborations, too: After discovering that one of their musical heroes, former ALL vocalist Scott Reynolds, lived just blocks from the studio, BFS rang him up to make a cameo on “America (Wake up Amy).” Fastball’s Tony Scalzo, another Austin native and band friend, ended up collaborating on the rollicking kiss-off to an ex “I Don’t Wish You Were Dead Anymore.” And, even if he originally dropped by just to hang out with his friends, Nerf Herder frontman/YouTube mega-star Parry Gripp also wound up making a cameo on vocals. “It literally felt like more of a party than work, and I think that shows up throughout the record,” Reddick remembers. “People are gonna hear this and be like, ‘Okay, well, it sounds like they had just a little bit of fun.” Of course, they also got serious—or as serious as you can when your album’s lead single is a wiener joke. “I think a song like ‘My Wena’ is a perfect example of us being like, ‘Okay, whatever people think is as far as we’re gonna take it, we’ll just keep pushing things to the next level,” Reddick explains. “But there are a handful of songs on this record that really mean a lot, too. I think that was also a part of the studio environment—whether we were goofing around or wearing our hearts on our sleeves, we weren’t afraid to go for it.” Considering how long they’ve been a band, it’s no small wonder that Bowling for Soup still find new ways to go for it in the niche they’ve carved out for themselves. But as Reddick notes, that sense of abandon is just the thing that’s allowed BFS to tackle Sorry for Partyin’ as if it were their first record, not their 10th. “We’ve always said that the day it’s not fun anymore, we’re just not gonna do it anymore,” he concludes. “So why focus on the down side? Let’s keep doing what we do best. Let’s keep having fun.”
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band
75 schedule::attendees
Location
St David's Historic Sanctuary
eventtype Music
event::about KEVIN DEVINE With a musical repertoire that spans the spectrum from hushed finger-picked narratives to bombastic rockers, Kevin Devine is one of those rare talents who straddles a multitude of genres and feels equally at home in each. Whether he’s playing solo to hundreds of his devotees in a cramped NYC club, joining friends on stage at Lollapalooza or touring with artists varying from Rachel Yamagata to Brand New, Devine’s songs enrapture a diverse set of ears like few musicians. Born and raised in New York and currently dwelling in Brooklyn, Devine is a singer/songwriter who has been quietly honing his craft since the release of his first album in 2002. He’s since been adding idiosyncratic chapters to his unique success story by building his diehard international fanbase with incessant touring and a series of compelling releases that highlight his introspective lyrical wordplay, each displaying an impressive musical evolution. Brother's Blood, his fifth record and first with Manchester Orchestra's Favorite Gentlemen record label, is the most resounding evidence of that ethic and maturation - a sprawling, confident mission statement about conscience, culture, and personality. Brother's Blood is a response to the three years Devine spent touring relentlessly behind his major label debut, the Rob Schnapf-produced Put Your Ghost To Rest, initially released by Capitol/EMI in 2006 and later re-issued by Brand New's Procrastinate! Music Traitors following Devine's dismissal from Capitol during its bloody merger with Virgin. True to Devine’s character, he turned a potentially grisly outcome inside out and instead exited the label with a healthier and more thriving career than when he went in. Devine accomplished this feat the old fashioned way: playing close to 600 shows between June 2006 and December 2008, further broadening his appeal and versatility, and doing it all without the centralized support from a label. These shows offered him opportunities to share stages (and vans) with artists as diverse as AA Bondy, Annuals, Manchester Orchestra, Elf Power, Rachel Yamagata, Lucero and Corinne Bailey Rae. He appeared at The Sundance Film Festival alongside She & Him and Mandy Moore and at Austin City Limits with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Andrew Bird. He traversed the globe at a feverish pace: the UK with All-American Rejects, Australia with The Offspring, England and Ireland, Europe and Japan, and of course, the States. Back home, he triumphantly oversold two headline gigs at New York's Bowery Ballroom and was asked to join two very different groups of friends, Brand New AND Okkervil River, on their respective stages at Lollapalooza 2008. Somewhere in all that motion, Devine managed to whip 15 or so songs into shape and started visualizing what would become Brother's Blood. He recorded barebones acoustic versions of the tracks in early '08 and eventually rehearsed and demoed those with his erstwhile Goddamn Band (Brian Bonz on keys & percussion, Chris Bracco on bass, Mike Skinner on drums, Russell Smith on guitar, and Mike Strandberg on guitar) in their Brooklyn practice space all summer. Carving away at and layering ideas with producers Bracco & Skinner and engineer Dan Long, the band bunkered down in Williamsburg's Headgear Studios (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Au Revoir Simone, Son Volt) for the first two weeks of August. Devine consciously ceded more control of arrangement to his players, hoping to affect a more live, full-band feel for the first time on record. The results speak for themselves. Brother's Blood is both the next step and a break in form; it reflects the diverse talents and contributions of The Goddamn Band as much as it speaks to the scope of Devine's influences and commitment to exploring new stylistic territory. Lead single "I Could Be With Anyone" is a charging and hook-heavy pop song equally indebted to The Cars and Superchunk; "Another Bag Of Bones" (initially released as a Rob Schnapf-produced acoustic single around the ramp-up to the election) pins its dystopian and restless vision of a civilization in freefall to a dark and explosive groove before finding release in a choir's hopeful strain. Meanwhile, the title track is a massive and dynamic homage to the epic guitar freakouts of Neil Young and Built To Spill and the hypnotic and ominous "Carnival" sets the tone its with spacious, swirling flares of psychedelia – a dynamic exploration of tension and release which plays against a nightmarish hallucination about lost willpower and the fear of finally waking up to a reality that's even crazier than your dreams. But far from being one of Devine’s rockingest recordings to date, many of Brother's Blood’s finest moments are its quietest. Opener "All Of Everything, Erased" lays a bed of nimble and rhythmic finger-picking for its vivid description of a world left with no recourse but to cleanse itself of humanity and start over. "Fever Moon" is a sultry, Latin-influenced meditation on lust and its consequences that wouldn't seem out of place on a 1970s Leonard Cohen album, while "Murphy's Song" features a dazzling vocal turn from Jaymay that adds some jazz-era sensuality to the song's trumpet and piano-sprinkled Carribean lilt. On "Tomorrow's Just Too Late," Devine and Brand New's Jesse Lacey deliver a delicate and weaving full-song harmony that would make Simon & Garfunkel proud. Whether he’s joined in a duet, backed by his Goddamn Band, or singing quiet ruminations into his microphone alone with just his acoustic guitar, Devine deftly illustrates his unique versatility and breadth with each note. Brother’s Blood not only serves as a reminder of this but as the next step in his exciting evolution.
event::tags All Ages
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Hurray for the Riff Raff
19 schedule::attendees
Location
Victorian Room at The Driskill
eventtype Music
Artists Hurray for the Riff Raff
event::about Hurray for the Riff Raff began when Alynda lee Segarra started hopping trains across the USA at age 17. She eventually settled in New Orleans and was quickly embraced by the city's large community of street musicians. After years of learning from the music of the city she loves, Alynda began recording and performing under the name Hurray for the Riff Raff. Influenced by the sounds of Classic Country, 1960's Rock 'n' Roll, and master songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Neil Young, Hurray for the Riff Raff has deep roots in the landscape of America. After two self-released albums (2007's It Don't Mean I Don't Love You and 2010's Young Blood Blues), the band will be releasing a self-titled CD comprised of the best songs from those records on Loose Music (Felice Brothers, M Ward, Neko Case) in Europe on March 21, 2011.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
210 schedule::attendees
Location
The Parish
eventtype Music
event::about Let It Sway isn't just the title of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin's third full-length -- it's a philosophy that ultimately helped save the band. After enduring numerous tension-filled sessions while self-recording 2008's Pershing, the band members decided it would be best to relinquish control over production and pursue new options when it came time to record their next album. "With Pershing we tried to micromanage our sound and it wasn't a fun process," recalls drummer/vocalist Phil Dickey. "So for the new record it seemed like a good idea to try something we've never tried before." Plus, as guitarist/vocalist John Cardwell adds, "It just seems lazy to not want to make the best-sounding record possible." Not knowing which producer to contact, they began their search by reaching out to Death Cab For Cutie guitarist and respected engineer Chris Walla -- a fan and friend of SSLYBY since the release of 2005's Broom -- to see if he had any recommendations. Unexpectedly, Walla quickly replied he had the perfect person in mind -- himself. And so, at his suggestion, SSLYBY made the trek from their hometown of Springfield, MO to Madison, WI -- home of the famed Smart Studios (Nirvana's Nevermind, Smashing Pumpkins' Gish). Working with Walla (Tegan and Sara, The Decemberists) and resident producer Beau Sorenson (Death Cab For Cutie, Sparklehorse), the band members crafted the final list of 12 songs that appear on Let It Sway. "When we got to the studio the songs were about 75 percent completed, which ended up being perfect," says guitarist Will Knauer. "It allowed them to grow naturally -- with Chris and Beau guiding the songs with sounds we wouldn't have had access to and ideas we wouldn't have thought up ourselves." The influence the producers had on shaping the finished album is especially evident on "Sink/Let it Sway," a song that Walla and Sorenson helped sculpt from ideas, fragments, and four different demo versions into a complete whole, as well as "In Pairs," a short, infectious track the band had never played together until Walla heard the opening riff while setting up mics and exclaimed "We have to record it!" "For the first time, the goal was to write good songs and not worry about how they were going to be produced," says Dickey. "We trusted Chris and Beau 100 percent." That faith was certainly not misplaced, as Let It Sway takes cues from the band's quiet Broom-era bedroom recordings and couples them with the polished sound of Pershing to create a whole new aesthetic most evident on songs like album opener "Back in the Saddle" and the slow burner "Stuart Gets Lost Dans Le Metro." Ironically, despite its high-profile studio origin, the record has a more authentic and "live-sounding" feel than if the group had recorded at home. "We generally tracked one song a day and just used the best performances -- even if there were little flubs," reveals Dickey. "Chris and Beau decided to do it that way, which is good because we're perfectionists and would probably still be recording the album today." In the end, the circumstances surrounding the making of the record -- in which the band rode bikes to the studio each morning and slept on the floor of Sorenson's home (while Walla inhabited a tent in the backyard) -- was exactly the kind of environment SSLYBY needed to recapture the essence of what it is to be a band. "Recording the album reminded me of how everything was when we first started playing together," says Dickey. "Everything about making music with your friends seemed fun and perfect all over again." As Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin learned firsthand, when pressure is mounting, sometimes you just gotta Let It Sway.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Ty Segall
144 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
12:30 AM
to 1:30 AM
Hanson
130 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
eventtype Music
Artists Hanson
event::about Native sons of Tulsa, Oklahoma, HANSON has been making music together for nearly two decades. Thirteen years ago, their out-of-the-blue, soul-inspired brand of American pop-rock‘n’roll was introduced to the world. Unaffected by charts or fads, they’ve spent more than a decade building a community of fans connected to one another and fueled by the energy and craftsmanship of three brothers and their music. Their fifth studio album, Shout It Out, was released on June 8th 2010 on their label 3CG Records. They deliver a powerful group of soulful, melodic tunes that will leave you with a contagious sense of optimism for the future and welcomed reminiscence for American rock ‘n’ roll.
event::tags All Ages
12:50 AM
to 1:50 AM
Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group
93 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Annex
eventtype Music
Artists Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group
event::about Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group is: Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Marcel Rodriguez Lopez, Juan Alderete De La Pena (The Mars Volta) with Deantoni Parks on Drums, Vocals by Ximena Sarinana Rivera and Sound Manipulation by Lars Stalfors
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Marcy Playground
104 schedule::attendees
Location
512 Rooftop
eventtype Music
Artists Marcy Playground
event::about Though you may know them best for their 15-week stay as Billboard chart-topper though irresistible single “Sex and Candy,” modern rock band Marcy Playground made sure that this was just the beginning of their musical career. Starting in 1997 with a self-titled album that went on to sell 1.7 million, the band continued its original sound with follow-up records “Shapeshifter” (1999) and “Marcy Playground 3” (“MP3”) (2004). While garnering obscure commercial recognition in likening to their debut, the albums demonstrated a tremendous period of creative growth for MP and are considered as “cult classics” among the most loyal of the band’s fans. 2009 marked the arrival of their critically acclaimed fourth album “Leaving Wonderland…In a Fit of Rage,” what frontman John Wozniak notes as “the most personal record [he’s] ever made.” The record not only can be strongly recognized for its level of involvement from the band, but as what led to a chance to get the band’s fans involved with follow-up crowd sourced album “Indaba Remixes from Wonderland.” The album, released in part by Woz Records (formed in 2009 by the band’s very own John Wozniak) as well as Capitol/EMI gave fans the opportunity to add their own personal touch to MP tracks by remixing them. Out of 100’s of entries, the band hand-selected 13 of their favorites to appear on the special release. Their sound attracts the big screen as well. MP has been featured on many soundtracks, such as Cruel Intention, Antitrust, Simply Irresistible, as well as many films by writer/director Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Zack and Miri Make a Porno.) Today, you can find Marcy Playground back on the road, touring internationally. In 2011, MP plans to release the first volume of a rarities album from their early years on Capitol Records.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Quintron and Miss Pussycat
68 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Quintron and Miss Pussycat
event::about "Quintron has been making genre-defying noise and "Swamp-Tech" dance music in New Orleans for over fifteen years. The majority of his 12 full-length albums have the psychedelic soul of New Orleans garage R&B filtered through a tough distorted Hammond B-3 and a cache of self-made electronic instruments. He has also released strange soundscapes based on inner-city field recordings of frogs and neighborhood ambiance. Quintron regards his most significant creation to be his patented instrument called the THE DRUM BUDDY, a light activated analog synthesizer that creates murky, low-fidelity, rhythmic patterns. Notable DRUM BUDDY clients include performers Nels Cline of Wilco, Laurie Anderson, Fred Armisen, and DJ Mr. Dibbs. Quintron's permanent collaborator is none other than master puppeteer, MISS PUSSYCAT who plays maracas and sings, as well as entertaining all age groups with her highly amusing technicolor puppet shows. Hers are complex puppet shows beautifully crafted for success in intimate venues of late night rock and roll drinking and dancing: tactile, idiosyncratic puppet characters, pithy dialogue, electronically pixilated soundtracks, and charming black light effects create a visual and engaging overture/finale to Quintron and Miss Pussycat's music sets. Quintron aids in puppet manipulation and voicing. Miss Pussycat, in turn, sings lead and back-up with a steady maraca beat during Quintron's performances. The Quintron / Miss Pussycat experience is one of barely controlled electronic chaos, "Swamp-Tech" dance beats, small explosions, incredible clothes, and entertaining puppet stories. You can see them perform regularly at the Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans, Louisiana or on one of their many tours around the world. This act somehow has equal relevance in sleazy nightclubs, pizza restaurants, and university lecture halls."
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Uh Huh Her
38 schedule::attendees
Location
Continental Club
eventtype Music
Artists Uh Huh Her
event::about When everything breaks down around you, how do you rebuild and start again? How do you inspire trust and regain confidence in something you never fully understood? When you finally have the chance to speak again, what do you say? Before they set out to write their second album NOCTURES due out this spring, these were the questions that faced UH HUH HER’s LEISHA HAILEY and CAMILA GREY. Not by choice, but by necessity. Where most new bands play their first gig in front of a handful of people, HAILEY and GREY debuted to a packed house of industry heads, critics and fans, many of whom might have been more familiar with HAILEY’s character “Alice” on The L Word than they were with her role in '90s indie duo The Murmurs. For GREY, it was her first group project since a tenure with the lo-fi indie outfit Mellowdrone. There was no shortage of hype, and even though their backing band consisted of one iPod, they delivered the goods in spades. Expectations mounted, and one year after releasing their self-produced EP, I See Red, they released their full-length. Co-produced by GREY and Al Clay (Pixies, Blur), Common Reaction was a full serving of new wave electro-pop that broke with the anthemic single "Not A Love Song." But just as their momentum was building, a split with their label detached the band from all their support and management. "Losing everything forced us to inhabit our frustrations and turn them into something inspired," HAILEY remembers. "We were absolutely compelled to write this record. We had something to prove to ourselves." Determined to move at their own pace and regain control of their art, GREY and HAILEY tapped into old influences. They pushed rock and roll deeper into the mix and made a conscious effort to embrace the beauty in imperfection, rather than put a high gloss shine over things like vocals and rhythms. "I feel like back then, the music I gravitated toward had a pulse and was mysterious and seductive," says GREY. "I wanted to bring some of that to the table, because I feel as though these days everyone has their cards on the table." Before they began writing, GREY stopped listening to contemporary music all together, and instead padded her vinyl collection with LPs from Can, Pink Floyd, Joy Division and the Eurythmics. She and HAILEY decorated their studio with anything that amplified their vision--lights, posters, bold swaths of color--and tacked up photographer Mick Rock's raw, iconic images of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and The Velvet Underground. Embracing their creative freedom but acutely aware of what it cost to obtain, they wrote songs that reflected exactly what they felt. The dreamy, shadowy subject matter, coupled with their late-night recording sessions, helped inform the title of the album. "I think lyrically we couldn't help but go to a contemplative place with everything we'd gone through," GREY explains. "It was like having a torrid affair, having it end, then having to rebuild yourself after the storm. That's what this record is about." "Criminal" typifies that attitude, as GREY purrs out her lament on top of lush Hammond B3 chords: "I told it to you straight, somehow you didn't hear a thing. It's sad, what a shame." Uptempo tracks like "Darkness Is" and "Disdain" push the envelope even further, showcasing a big rock sound that still has one high-heeled foot firmly planted in the sophisticated pop GREY and HAILEY are known for. For seven months they laid down new material in their studio, but if they were going to mature the sound past the level they obtained with Common Reaction, they'd have to beef up the production. For a third set of ears, HAILEY and GREY passed the recordings to producer and longtime friend Wendy Melvoin, formerly of Prince and the Revolution. She not only extended her opinion, but offered to help the band finish off the album at her personal studio space, located within the famed Henson Studios compound in Los Angeles. "She was like an angelic mad scientist that descended upon us in a time of need," laughs GREY, who shares NOCTURNES' producer credit with Melvoin. "The input Wendy has had was nothing less than stellar. Sometimes it would be something as simple as changing my bass rhythm or adding a guitar part that would inspire other things." Adds HAILEY, "She gave me the confidence to tap into the more aggressive sound that I'm attracted to." To capture a live, massive drum sound--something that was missing from Common Reaction, and the organic element needed to compliment NOCTURNES' opulent, harmonic synths and vocals--drummer Josh Kane tracked his performances in Henson's A room on the same kit John Bonham used during the recording of "When The Levee Breaks." The results, especially on songs like "Wake To Sleep," "Criminal" and "Same High," typify the combination of beauty and aggression that UH HUH HER have harnessed on NOCTURNES, both lyrically and musically. "You are so careless with the kingdom, you always throw away the great ones," GREY sings on the opening "Marstorm," a synth-heavy cut that sets the record's unapologetic tone. The thread continues on "Another Case," as she warns, "I am stronger than the other ones...don't try to fight me." UH HUH HER masterfully mix strength and sentiment on the epic "Human Nature," as strings, pianos and soaring pads bleed into an epic rock ballad chorus that channels Prince's "Purple Rain." "This was a process of proving to ourselves that not only could we do this record and do it well on our own, but that we could expand ourselves musically," says HAILEY, whose bond with GREY has grown even stronger as a result of the band's setbacks and subsequent rebirth. "It was the perfect opportunity to write a great record." GREY continues, "I've never felt more free in my life as far as creating. We gave ourselves the time we needed, and the only goal was to make the best record we could possibly make." www.uhhuhher.com http://www.facebook.com/uhhuhher http://twitter.com/uhhuhhermusic For UH HUH HER publicity, contact: Libby Coffey/818-380-0400 x224, LCoffey@msopr.com Alex Greenberg/818-380-0400 x232, AGreenberg@msopr.com
event::tags 21+
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