Speed Stick, Pipe
The Carrboro, NC supergroup Speed Stick is an ever-evolving project among a group of friends—Ash Bowie (Polvo), Charles Chace (The Paul Swest), Laura King (Bat Fangs), and Thomas Simpson (The Love Language)—whose musical achievements reach back as far as the 1990s. But as its live shows attest, the band does not want to rehearse old accomplishments. On stage, Speed Stick wants to shatter epochs. Step into a world of thunder where lighting strikes rewire nervous systems. Ride waves with peaks that precede disquieting calms. Float in spaces where dark and light collide to set blood afire. To participate in a Speed Stick show is to enter a space of bodily and psychological endurance. Off-kilter guitar riffs shadow the raging intensity of drums; blistering drum beats dance to the feedback of guitars.The songs for Volume One were created in unusual fashion over the course of a year. Initially, Speed Stick only consisted of two drummers. They distributed nine studio tracks and a single live track to select musicians. The musicians’ task was simple: draw inspiration from the beats in order to create music that spreads laterally and horizontally like a rhizome. Indeed, Volume One has utterly discarded the yoke of genre by instead tethering intricate, interlocking drums to myriad creative personalities: Mac McCaughan (Superchunk), Kelley Deal (The Breeders, R. Ring), Mike Montgomery (R. Ring), Stuart McLamb (The Love Language). But no one can stop with just the album. Your ears will yearn to see the shapes of sound and your eyes will beg to taste color. For what Volume One heralds is that the supergroup Speed Stick is the super show of shows.Bandcamp | FacebookThe rock band Pipe is a cold-cock polar ice bath in the middle of a historically hot summer, a ferocious roar that shakes us out of a stupor we didn’t know we were in. They know it too. They’ve been doing it for more than three decades. Their interpretation of punk is lean, economic and direct. Pipe leaves more of an impression with a 90-second song or a 25-minute show than perfectly good bands do in their whole careers. Come help Messrs. Alworth, Garrison, Kenlan and Liberti celebrate their first new album in 26 years. Despite being nine years in the making, their new self-titled 11-song set sounds remarkably unlabored, not to mention modern and 100% organic. Local faves Shark Quest will open. –Gavin O’HaraWebsite | Facebook
Rose City Band
Rose City Band’s country psychedelic rock evokes the wide-open spaces of the American west and free spirits who call it home. The project of acclaimed guitarist and vocalist Ripley Johnson, Rose City Band has extended beyond the studio and lives in tandem as a live ensemble featuring some of the finest players in contemporary rock: pedal steel guitarist Barry Walker, keyboardist Paul Hasenberg, bassist Dewey Mahood (aka Plankton Wat) and drummer Dustin Dybvig. Garden Party is a celebration of summer and all it brings: communal gatherings, the respites offered by nature, and an appreciation for even the simplest beauty, from 12-foot sunflowers to a contorted carrot planted in the spring. Freedom, contentment, and joy were the sources for the songs. From the soaring guitar solos, to the driving rhythms, the elegant pedal steel lines to the organ grooves, Garden Party has a live band’s energy captured in exquisite detail. At its inception Rose City Band focused on what songwriter Johnson calls “porch music”. Recorded largely at Center for Sound, Light, and Color Therapy in Portland and mixed by John McEntire, Garden Party features guest appearances by Moon Duo bandmates John Jeffrey on drums and Sanae Yamada on synths, as well as Rose City Band live performers Hasenberg on keyboards and Walker on pedal steel. With the musicians in his life in mind, Ripley’s porch has opened up for each player to step into. Despite being tracked primarily as a solo endeavor the recordings capture the twists and bends of a fully realized ensemble, and in a nod to bands such as the Grateful Dead it doesn’t stop there. “The songs won’t really be finished until we play them on the road,” says Johnson. Garden Party’s carefree attitude is layered with subtle turns and melodic gems which push the easygoing spirit towards transcendence. The interplay of Johnson and Walker’s guitars is nothing short of radiant. Opening track “Chasing Rainbows” finds the two casting out lines back and forth, carefully weaving around and through one another before basking into a wash of texture and twang. “Slow Burn” drives Johnson’s signature cosmic sound into the roots of the earth, twisting more grounded phrases and homespun bends around the rollicking rhythm section. Walker’s range as a pedal steel player is on full display throughout with classic licks dancing in tandem with Johnson’s voice. Album centerpiece “Porch Boogie” was written with the live ensemble in mind while Johnson was out on one of his regular walks, with only rhythmic ideas setting the pace for an extended groove that the group could stretch and relax into. The shifts in tone and feel on “Mariposa” and “Moonlight Highway”’s transition into “El Rio” are indicative of the expansive and unexpected directions Rose City Band are able to roam as the players follow one another from tender ballads to folk rambles to loping riffs. The sizzle of “Moonlight Highway” translates the unpredictable and invigorating energy of the band’s road gigs into a song tailor made for dancing, speckled with the gleaming starlight of night drives across the country.Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
Homeshake
It’s the early 2000’s. A music video plays on a nearby loop on the Much Music TV channel. A man stands in a room, the background is nothing, non existent, as if in a void. The camera rolls and does not stop. He is shirtless. Sparse guitars begin as the camera sways effortlessly through the abyss, never taking its omnipotent gaze off the man. He is shirtless, cut from stone like a statue from antiquity. Flawless in all regards, but we have not seen everything yet. The music ungulates towards an apex as the camera begins to lower its gaze. Revealed are two lines few have seen before. Angular muscles beginning at the navel and ending at the thighs. A new style of music video is formed, a unique take of R&B is created, the artistry of D’angelo is now truly whole. Peter sits at home transfixed to the screen. He is amazed as his perception of what is possible in music has changed. Peter is now on the precipice of a new dawn.Morning has broken. “Wake up, grandma why don’t you put on a little makeup.” Or so he thought the lyrics went to the new music video playing. Chop Suey by System of a Down. Peter is flabbergasted again. More new styles of music, more new guitar riffs! He sits, mouth open, with a copy of Guitar World magazine open to the tablature of Chop Suey. Reading the fine print with a magnifying glass he is now completely stunned, knocked flat onto his back, when he learns a guitar can be tuned much lower than he had expected! Drop C in fact. A tuning he uses to this day. “Time to go to school young man. This essay isn’t going to read itself,” he thinks to himself clutching his homework. At school a classmate of Peter reads his essay aloud for marks. They stumble through the quote “Be careful when staring into the abyss because the abyss will stare back into you.” After class, amazed at his friend’s penmanship, Peter does a secret handshake with the author to celebrate the success of the essay. A ‘home-shake.’ That was the moment he Realized how to unite his new inspirations. An artist is born. -written by an interested third partyWebsite | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | YouTube
Mdou Moctar
There is a beauty in listening to music made in the spirit of energetic transformation. When the sounds transform the air and the listener. This record transports the listener into the heart of the music of Mdou Moctar. The blending of intention and motivation creates a burst of sound that embraces and shakes and invites one to dance! It invites one to breathe. It invites one to be in solidarity with the music. It invites one to be in touch with the human condition. What does it mean to be free in these times? Can the world be liberated from the colonial mindstate that has caused such harm and mistrust? Can we mourn our losses yet build anew to form something more astounding, more fantastic? Funeral For Justice says we can. A sound that carries weight makes an impact. A sound that carries time transcends time. We are not only listening to music but we are living through it. We are living with it. We are living in it. The artist sees history and makes poetry from it for the present. Mdou Moctar’s Funeral For Justice requests your presence. Show up open to the celebration of life, loved as it should be loved. Experience the exaltation and exuberance. The words speak of ascension, awareness, sorrow, apathy, knowing, and growth. The guitars speak of power, energy, jubilation, transcendency, immediacy, and tradition. The drums and percussion mark the pulse of now as well as a timeless dance that involves us all, as it did those that came before us. The wires that carry the message feel alive with fire and purpose, explosive with possibility. This “funeral” is an acknowledgment. This “funeral” is abundant. This “funeral” overflows into the street filled with dance. This “funeral” stretches late into the night, kicking up the dirt, with the hum of a generator, an ever present member of the rhythm section. This “funeral” is a clarion call for reason and a belief that change is possible. So join Mdou Moctar in this funeral for justice, knowing rebirth is possible. A new justice is possible. With your voice, your heart, your dance, your stomp, a new justice is born. Mdou Moctar welcomes you with joy and open arms. Be here. Feel here and do, alongside this music. Don’t stand alone, join with others and do. Fight for liberation. Stand against oppression, alongside this music and do! – Damon Locks Funeral For Justice is the new album by Mdou Moctar. Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2019 breakout Afrique Victime, it captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political. Nothing is held back or toned down.The songs on Funeral For Justice speak unflinchingly to the plight of Niger and of the Tuareg people. “This album is really different for me,” explains Moctar, the band’s singer, namesake, and indisputably iconic guitarist. “Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the US and Europe came here, they said they’re going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
¡Tumbao!
The Electrifying Latin Fusion Phenomenon ¡Tumbao! returns in 2024 for its biggest year yet.Coming off from a record-setting tour for the nine person Psychedelic Latin Fusion ensemble – having shared the stage with Grammy Award winning acts like Kabaka Pyramid, Proyecto Uno, and legend Mavis Staples, with performances at stages such as the Grassroots Festival Circuit, The Smithsonian, a featured artist at Jazz in the Garden in Washington, DC – the band has reached a new height of popularity, expanding its fanbase beyond its original Latin American and East Coast roots. Bringing the sounds of Latin America and the world with what many have described as Psychedelic Latin Fusion,the band is adding dates throughout the United States east coast and South America for what is to be their biggest tour year to date. Website | Instagram | Facebook Elora DashAt the Nexus of R&B and neo-soul, Elora Dash emerges as a multifaceted artist—a musician, vocalist, vocal coach, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Her voice effortlessly scales the heights and explores the depths, while her music resonates with an adventurous spirit that captivates listeners. Drawing inspiration from luminaries such as Hiatus Kaiyote, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill, the 5 piece ensemble embarks on a musical journey, skillfully blending elements of jazz fusion, neo-soul, and R&B to craft music that is both innovative and soul-stirring. Her acoustic gem “Disappointed,” was unveiled in November 2022 and her latest single, “Love You More,” was released on October 27 giving a sneak peak into the band’s upcoming album. Noteworthy in her discography is the 2020 release, “Self-Actualization,” a 9-track instrumental collaborative lofi mixtape that features artists from across the country. Anticipation builds as Elora Dash gears up for 2024-2025 tour dates and a new recording project set to be released late 2024. Gustav Viehmeyer Gustav Viehmeyer is an internationally recognized jazz guitarist and composer. At age 17, after being invited on stage with jazz legends Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola, Gustav decided to pursue a career in music. Since then, Gustav has performed at the Sarasota Jazz Festival, the Sarasota Film Festival, Jazz on the Bay, the Naples Motorfest, and the One Valley Bluegrass Festival. He has toured with Cirque Maceo performing with his Gypsy Style guitar act. An international Composer, musician and guitarist, Gustav has the rare gift of merging soulful pleasures through music. His playing is free spirited, wild, intensely passionate and executed with skillful precision. Gustavs guitar music is rooted in the style of Django Reinhardt, The Sinti Virtuosos and a love for film composition.
Wild Child
End of the World, the new album from acclaimed Austin songwriting duo Wild Child (Kelsey Wilson and Alexander Beggins) wasn’t supposed to happen. In 2018, Wilson joined the singer-songwriter super group Glorietta, and debuted her critically acclaimed genre-bending, Motown-influenced solo project Sir Woman. Meanwhile, Beggins unveiled his musical alter-ego, CoCo Zandi, with the release of his first solo album, As Simple as a Dream. Then in 2019, after more than a decade of non-stop touring, the indie band, which was unexpectedly conceived in the back seat of someone else’s tour van, stopped booking or playing shows altogether.Exploring different sonic directions, Wilson and Beggins didn’t know if they would ever make another Wild Child record, until, well, what felt like the “end of the world” hit Austin, and brought them back together. Pandemic lockdowns closed stages and drained bank accounts. In Austin, the ‘Live Music Capital of the World,’ local bands took their shows online. Wild Child was no different. With an unexpected abundance of free time on their hands, Wilson and Beggins got together to practice for a series of online performances for devout fans. Within 30 minutes of rejoining forces, they’d written the first single for what would accidentally become Wild Child’s fifth album.”Photographs” is a soulful, brass-filled outing that “offers something familiar for Wild Child fans who have stuck with them over the years,” Wilson says. “‘Photographs’ was inspired by a picture of my dad, Buddy Wilson, who passed away in February. And in a way, it’s a tribute to old Wild Child songs. A bittersweet story, a ukulele and both of us singing. It’s a special gift to Wild Child fans.” Beggins adds, “It felt like our very first record, when the two of us wrote a bunch of songs while on tour for someone else. There wasn’t any aim to do anything with those songs at the beginning. For the first time since then, that’s how we started writing these songs. We didn’t know if we would make another record. It just came together.”And it couldn’t have happened at a more difficult time. Take Day 3 of the 2021 Texas Big Freeze for instance, when 13 displaced Austin pals had taken refuge at Wilson’s house. There was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no end in sight. When Wilson couldn’t possibly take it anymore, one of the fateful 13, singer-songwriter John Calvin Abney, ripped a 90s-alternative riff on an acoustic guitar that would eventually turn into the album’s title track. “I just started singing about things that were freaking me out. Wearing a mask for a year. Global warming. There’s no heat, no water,” explains Wilson. “It was like a dirge to begin with. But by the end we were all screaming and laughing that, yes, this might be the end of the world, but we’re all together right now, making music in my living room by candlelight. It’s all okay.”The next morning during a lull in the storm, the Wild Child caravan — complete with drummer and guitarist Tom Meyers, guitarist Cody Ackors, and bassist and piano player Taylor Craft (Sir Woman) — braved icy roads to recording engineer Matt Pence’s The Echo Lab studios outside Denton, Texas. They didn’t even stop to shower before recording an unwashed rendition of “End of the World,” flush with in-the-moment angst. “There’s no ukulele. I’m singing differently than I ever have before. You can hear my voice crack, and all the energy behind everyone playing,” Wilson said.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
The Menzingers
At this point, the Menzingers are an absolute institution. The Philadelphia punk legends’ multi-decade reputation as road warriors with an unbeatable catalog is cemented as hard truth—and their seventh album, Some Of It Was True, stands as their most immediate-sounding and energetic record to date. The follow-up to 2019’s sensational Hello Exile accomplishes the daunting task of capturing the Menzingers’ distinctive live energy in the confines of the studio, resulting in a sound that’s both rich, raw, and complementary to the group’s increasingly prismatic songwriting approach. More than 15 years in, the Menzingers are still holding their listeners square in the immediate present, and Some Of It Was True documents that power in thrilling fashion. Some Of It Was True comes after the longest gap between Menzingers records to date—a gestational period brought on by the Hello Exile-era tour schedule’s delays due to the COVID-19 tour industry shutdown. “We weren’t really writing new music yet,” Greg Barnett explains. “We were talking about it, but we were honestly just happy to be out and touring again.” The acoustic reworks of 2020’s From Exile followed, as well as Barnett’s solo record Don’t Go Throwing Roses at My Grave from last year, which was when Some Of It Was True started to come together. “We turned down any offers at that point because we needed the time to write,” Tom May explains while discussing the writing and recording process, which technically started while on the road and continued in intensive fashion while the boys were back home. “We’d go out on tour, come home, and be in the practice space writing our asses off five days a week,” Barnett says. We had to learn to trust our instincts, which is the hardest thing to do when you’ve been in a band like this for so long. You get caught in your ways! It took a while to trust ourselves, but when we did, it was an amazing feeling.” Making the process easier: Grammy-nominated producer Brad Cook (Bon Iver, the War on Drugs, Waxahatchee), who joined the Menzingers in El Paso’s legendary Sonic Ranch studios and lent his incredible ear for raw, immediate sound to help the band achieve Some Of It Was True’s in-the-room live feel. “The Menzingers are as real as it gets,” Cook says on his time in the studio with the band. I had an absolute blast working with these guys and was moved to tears many times. They are truly dedicated to artistic growth, and to each other, in ways I found both refreshing and beautiful. I am now a lifer.” “Brad massively changed the way we were approaching the record,” May says. “We were able to bust out a ton of songs during the last part of the recording process as a result. We’d talk about music and develop a vocabulary about how to work together, and that made us embrace chasing the feeling instead worrying about locking in things immediately.” “We wanted to make a fun record and write songs that we wanted to play live, and that’s exactly what we did,” Barnett adds. “We’ve always said that we want every album to sound live, but we never recorded an album live before. This was the first time we committed to that idea. We wanted to sound like how our band sounds onstage.” Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Mates of State
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Jen Curtis, violin and Niloufar Shiri, kamancheh
An exploration of the migration of music from North Africa through Eastern Europe into Spain and Germany… from Arabic scales to Appalachian reels … and of course a little JS Bach. Jennifer Curtis, violin, Niloufar Shiri, Kamancheh, Naji Halil, Oud, David Meyer, cello and percussionists Will Ridenour and Jason Lentz. The New York Times described violinist Jennifer Curtis’s second solo concert in Carnegie Hall as “one of the gutsiest and most individual recital programs.” She was celebrated as “an artist of keen intelligence and taste, well worth watching out for.” Curtis navigates with personality and truth in every piece she performs. Jennifer is a long-time member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and founder of the group Tres Americas Ensemble. She has appeared as a soloist with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela and the Knights Chamber Orchestra; performed in Romania in honor of George Enescu; given world premieres at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York; collaborated with composer John Adams at the Library of Congress; and appeared at El Festival de las Artes Esénias in Peru and festivals worldwide. An educator with a focus on music as humanitarian aid, Jennifer has also collaborated with musical shaman of the Andes, improvised for live radio from the interior of the Amazon jungle, and taught and collaborated with Kurdish refugees in Turkey. Jennifer currently teaches part-time violin at Duke University. She plays on a 1777 Vincenzo Panormo.Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Kamancheh player and composer Niloufar Shiri began her musical journey at the Tehran Music Conservatory in Iran. She later immigrated to the USA and pursued her studies in composition at the University of California, San Diego, and Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT) at the University of California, Irvine. Niloufar’s musical world lies at the intersection of classical Iranian music, contemporary music, and improvisation. Her focus revolves around exploring the concept of displacement in relation to familiar and distant environments. Her music closely examines textural and timbral spaces, drawing inspiration from staggered pitch relations found in the Radif, as well as bird sounds, noise, and feedback. Her unique and radical approach to kamancheh performance significantly expands the sonic capabilities of the instrument and places her at the forefront of its practice.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud
AZUL
AZUL AZUL’s sound is as multicultural as her background. Her music is enriched by her Argentinian roots, travel, and global studies degree, while influenced by jazz, broadway, soul, gospel, blues, disco, Latin folk and Latin rock. She is emotional, empathetic, and empowered. She is driven to amplify opportunities for femme/queer/poc individuals in her band and on stage. AZUL sings (in Spanish, English, and French), dances, and plays trumpet. She’s as serious as she is silly, and she wants *you* to connect with that energy while she’s on stage. AZUL has opened for nationally touring groups like Delta Rae and Esme Patterson and has played at venues like the Ritz, Fillmore, and Cats Cradle. Maia Kamil Singer-songwriter Maia Kamil is at home in the world. Maia has spent years refining a musical style that weaves eclectic influences, vocal dexterity, and complex lyrics to create tiny worlds in which the listener can get lost. In 2020, Maia relocated to North Carolina where she worked with guitarist and producer Charlie Hunter, who helped hone her craft. She became known as the local Norah Jones for her warm vocals, spiritual center, and ease with stepping into a variety of genres from Hip Hop to Neo-soul and folk. Much like her writing, Maia’s performances are an invitation to form community and create deep human connection. Her simple melodies act as launch pads for her graceful vocal runs, creating a new sound with a global soul. Her music offers transport to worlds away—the woods she’s walked in, the Dead Sea she’s floated in, the words of her ancestors, the lullabies she sang to her three younger siblings—while simultaneously bringing the listener back to a campfire with friends, singing melodies they feel they’ve always known. Links and Videos here
