Ben Nichols Bikeriders Tour
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A Carrboro Back to the Future Prom
Benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Durham and Orange Counties. The prom theme is “Back To The Future.”The full Enchantment Under the Sea reenactment with live music ranging from 1955 – 1985!! Patrons can come dressed in their favorite 50’s or 80’s attire.Prom Court Heavy appetizers from Mel’s Catering Live music by the band Mix Tape Grab Bag Photo Booth Dance Off The prom includes the full Enchantment Under the Sea reenactment with live music ranging from 1955 to 1985! Dust off your poodle skirts or rock your 80s neon for a time-traveling adventure that’s sure to be the highlight of the summer. “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!” But dancing shoes are a must, as attendees groove to live music by the band Mix Tape Grab Bag. Your ticket doesn’t just open the doors to this retro blast—it includes a feast of heavy appetizers provided by Mel’s Catering, access to a nostalgia-inducing photo booth, and the thrill of a Dance Off competition. Who will make it to the Prom Court? It could be you! By attending this prom, you’re not just reliving or reimagining a memorable night from high school, you’re investing in the future of our community. “Remember, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,” Marty McFly advised. And accomplish we will! We’re thrilled that this event supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of Durham and Orange Counties (https://bgcdoc.org/), ensuring a bright future for our local youth.
George Clanton
George Clanton doesn’t just produce gleaming electronic pop, he produces nostalgia too. The Los Angeles artist’s process involves tweaking synthesizer presets, but beyond searching for the right melodies and textures, he’s hoping to come upon a sound that strikes a spiritual chord. “I’m looking for something that triggers a memory or an emotion,” he says. His lyrics are direct transmissions from his soul: raw, often off-the-cuff, evocative. When you pair those words with the gauzy textures Clanton’s become known for, his music feels like a dreamy filter you can put over your own memories. Every moment feels a little more colorful, a little more comforting.You can hear the impact of this approach in his upcoming third album—take fuzz-pop anthem “Fucking Up My Life.” The track is both raucous and soothing, and as Clanton’s distorted croons echo across swelling synths and crushing breakbeats, he offers a mantra: “It feels alright.”It’s a fitting return for an artist who’s spent the last decade cutting through the noise. In addition to making music, he runs the 100% Electronica record label with his fellow pop mutator and wife Negative Gemini. He also spearheads events, including weekly livestreams on Twitch. Being extremely online has allowed Clanton’s fans access to the depths of his personality, to connect with his work more deeply. “I think of myself as the ultimate DIY person,” he says. “Working the George Clanton way has made for a really unique career that hasn’t yet been fully recognized.”Growing up, Clanton knew he wanted to be an entertainer, but he didn’t know how. His hometown of Ridgeway, Virginia, had a NASCAR track but no concert venues or record stores. So MTV was his primary education: videos by artists like 311, The Prodigy, and the Bad Boy Records crew taught the art of showmanship. He downloaded a lot of music from Limewire. During one session, a mislabeled download of what he thought was Oasis turned out to be shoegaze band Brian Jonestown Massacre, opening him up to the vast world of underground music on the internet, which led him to help form the scene that would dream up vaporwave.Under the monikers ESPRIT 空想 and Mirror Kisses, Clanton became a key figure of the early vaporwave scene through his meditative lo-fi productions. The genre was then known primarily for its use of samples, but his 2014 album virtua.zip was a landmark: the first of its kind to be built entirely from original compositions. He also started singing on his tracks back then, adding a human touch and another layer of emotional involvement to the developing genre. In 2015, he dropped both aliases in favor of his given name, a symbolic shedding of creative restraints.In order to reproduce his internet success offline, Clanton hustled harder. Moving to Brooklyn in 2015, where he worked a day job and made music at night, provided that motivation. Seeking a label but unwilling to compromise, he started his own. The label and his first album under his birth name would share the same moniker: 100% Electronica. His 2018 follow-up, Slide, further revealed his gift for deeply moving pop. One of the album’s most powerful tracks, “You Lost Me There,” was inspired by Negative Gemini leaving for work. The mild melancholy of missing your person for a few hours started to feel like the end of the world: “I just didn’t want to be alone because the house was empty,” Clanton says. “I try to find the extreme in the mundane.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Sir Woman, w/ Sketch
To say that Sir Woman has taken the crowded Austin music scene by storm this past year, would be a massive understatement. With the release of their full-length self-titled debut, the band has quickly skyrocketed to headliner status at Austin’s most venerable clubs, and garnered Artist Of The Year at the 2023 Austin Music Awards.The rolling funk/soul ensemble began as a solo vehicle for Wild Child/Glorietta vocalist Kelsey Wilson a mere two years ago. Their dynamic and joyful stage show led to quick buzz, with their recorded catalog quickly catching up to the acclaim (over 30m plays on Spotify alone). Wilson is also not one to rest on this new attention, simultaneously coordinating a Wild Child reunion, a live Sir Woman full-length (recorded at legendary Arlyn Studios), and a follow up Sir Woman studio full-length.Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube
Neil Frances
There’s something you need to know: There is no Neil Frances.OK, sort of. Neil Frances is not a solo artist, it’s the name of a duo comprised of Sydney-born Jordan Feller and Southern California native Marc Gilfry. And to help you remember that Neil Frances is not a person, the duo has named its forthcoming debut LP, due out in 2022, There Is No Neil Frances.Feller and Gilfry met in 2012 and formed the group in 2016, having both relocated to LA from London and New York, respectively, in pursuit of new projects. Feller began his music career back home in Australia as a hip-hop obsessed, self-taught electronic music DJ, while Gilfry grew up in a musically-inclined household and played and sang in multiple bands. With Gilfry’s inherent knack for hooks and melodies and Feller’s encyclopedic sonic recall ability and vast knowledge of production, the pair hit it off and began to develop their brand of beat-driven popinfused with a more organic warmth than most modern music. Putting special emphasis on their enthralling live sets — always performed live with a multi-piece band and never relying on playback — the group quickly developed a reputation as a must-see stage artist.Soon their reputation as a diverse act with a wide range of talents began to build among listeners of all kinds. “I think there’s a lot of diversity in the people who listen to our songs and come out to our shows, and we feel like that’s the result of something intentional,” Gilfry says. “Jordan and I always wanted to use our music to build a tent big enough for anyone and everyone.”Steadily building from the ground up since the beginning, the duo has been hard at work on the music for the new album since just before the pandemic took hold but have been heading toward this pinnacle for even longer. The 2018 debut EP, Took A While, with its blend of psychedelic rhythms, vibe-y, infectious grooves, and a raw, funky spirit put the act firmly on the map and propelled them to tour slots with established acts like Jungle, SG Lewis and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.A number of single releases, remixes, and featured guest spots on their tracks helped implement their fluidity and embracing of a changing modern pop landscape. And now, There Is No Neil Frances is set to expand their reach with its sense ofundeniable groove and sunny outlook grounded in realness. The songs on the LP cut to the heart of what makes Neil Frances who they are and, for the first time, are bound by a common, cohesive thread. The album loosely tells the story of an insect aspiring to find its place in a utopian dreamscape — a story perhaps best appreciated while in the moment at a NF gig, or in a hazy, red-tinted room with your favorite beverage at hand.The band explains, “Our new album is about self-realization and becoming the person that you dream of. The concept is that we are insects on earth who ascend into outer space to become divas at a galactic ball.” “It’s Like A Dream” is the “set it off” track, a grade-A jam to blast at full volume and get the weekend started in the spirit of Kylie Monogue, Robyn, Amber, and Jessie Ware. “On A Dark Night” sets the tone for the rest of the record with its smoother-than-silk chorus.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify
of Montreal
When creators f<ck with how we experience time and space, great fictions emerge: Clive Barker’s Imajica, Andrei Tarkovsky’s sci-fi classic Solaris, and Godard’s Alphaville. But what happens to artists when the flow of time gets f^cked up IRL? When an hour stretches into eternity, and the voices in your head begin to echo through empty rooms?If you’re Kevin Barnes, the creative visionary behind of Montreal, Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck happens.Isolation and uncertainty loomed throughout the genesis of the band’s latest studio album. “The experience of just trying to keep my head above water and navigate through the last couple years played a huge role in this record,” says Barnes.These expansive selections contrast markedly with the focused pop of 2020’s UR FUN, which was crafted for visceral thrills and the concert stage. As it was for countless musicians around the world, the inability to tour eliminated one of the linchpins of Barnes’ creative process. “I didn’t know if we’d ever tour again, so I didn’t consider that side of things.” Denied social interaction and diverse experiences, Barnes delved inward.Barnes contemplated how time functions in music and experimented accordingly. These new songs, dense with ideas but short on repetition, feel epic in scope despite reasonable running times. Like the staircases of M.C. Escher’s Relativity, the discrete sections of “Marijuana’s A Working Woman” and “Blab Sabbath Lathe of Maiden” crisscross and pivot, confounding the senses yet commanding attention.The imagery and sentiments that bubble forth from Barnes’ lyrical wordplay prove equally disorienting. “Is it important to say black chrome rodents?,” asks Barnes on “Après The Déclassé.” Phrases borne of free association took on new meaning when introduced into a song. “It’s like collaborating with my subconscious in a way. It feels deeply personal, even though I don’t necessarily understand it at that moment.”“Marijuana’s A Working Woman” juxtaposes oddball funk a la Zapp or Rick James with nods to Alice Anne Baily’s 19th century spiritualism. “Modern Art Bewilders” zigzags between baroque psychedelic idyll and synthpop tantrum, equal parts Sgt. Pepper’s and Gary Numan. Other influences woven throughout include realist painter Edward Hopper, fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin, cinéaste Pedro Almodovar, and erotic illustrator Toshio Saeki.Barnes likens their compositional process to making collages from seemingly unrelated source materials, combining them in provocative ways to reveal new meanings. “I wasn’t working with specific themes that I wanted to try and stretch over a three-minute pop song. It was sewing together a lot of fragmented thoughts,” which ties in nicely to the ‘freewave’ aspect of the album title’s meaning. As Barnes explains, “Freewave is my term for wild and intractable artistic expression. Lucifer is the angel of enlightenment and elucidation. Fuck is something we say when things are going really well, or really badly.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Be Loud! ’23
Saturday, August 26thDoors Open 7:30 pm, Music Starts 8pmTickets go on sale Friday, June 9thR.E.M. performed by the Maxell 90Echo and the Bunnymen performed by Preeesh! Tickets are $25 and all proceeds will go to the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation. Be Loud ’23 is an all ages show. We’ve had such a extraordinary run of Be Loud! concerts and we are celebrating that by hosting our 10th and final one (for the foreseeable future) on August 26th. Don’t worry, we are going to host other awesome fundraising events, and in the meantime, we plan to go out big and LOUD with Be Loud! 23. As with our last two shows in ’21 (The Clash) and ’22 (The Ramones, The Cure, and ZZ Top), we’ve asked some of our favorite local musicians to cover truly influential acts of the 1980’s. This year we have our old friends Preeesh! taking on Echo & The Bunnymen before The Maxell 90 does a tribute to the one and only R.E.M. Preeesh! features a core band comprised of Rob Ladd, Robert Sledge, and John Plymale, who many know from their previous bands The Pressure Boys, Ben Folds Five, and The Sex Police. Look for special guests too! The Maxell 90 will feature over 20 musicians teaming up to play tribute to R.E.M., including many you’ll recognize from Dillon Fence, The Connells, and Collapsis. Guest singers and special guests will be featured throughout the set. It promises to be an incredible evening of music and community, with all proceeds going to support the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation and the amazing work of the UNC AYA team at UNC Hospitals. Get your tickets now…before they’re gone!Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Electric Six
The Devil has always been there. He is the great outsider, the original iconoclast. He is a conniving little shit and never seems to tire of giving humanity a wedgie or a wet willie just for a laugh. The Devil is capable of taking many forms. He can exist as one being or spread out amongst many. He can present himself as an ordinary man or as a horrific cloven-hoofed beast depending on his mood. Above all else, The Devil lives to corrupt, to adulterate, to defile.Electric Six has often used The Devil as subject matter for its songs because of that last bit, the part about corruption and adulteration. That’s what Electric Six has been trying to do with its music now for quite some time!!!! We want to corrupt young women….just like The Devil!!! There’s nothing more rewarding than the seduction of a young innocent maiden, forcing her to wear demonic dresses, levitating her towards the great fiery skull and watching her eyes turn black as she gives into evil and becomes the bride of The Devil!!!! That….is why we started this band….to help women realize their potential as sexy evil maidens with eyes reflecting the utter darkness of a corrupted soul.With its fourteenth studio album Bride of the Devil, Electric Six examines the concepts of evil and corruption, humanity’s various falls from grace, the nine circles of purgatory and of course, the internet itself. Bride of the Devil opens with the thunderous opener “The Opener”, a bombastic celebration of the arena rock Electric Six never got to play. The next two numbers are textbook ear worm guitar pop numbers that deal with debilitating income inequality and nepotism (“Daddy’s Boy”) and the horrors of being forced into a pool of toxic waste by an a rabid Doberman trained to kill (“(It Gets) (A Little) Jumpy”).And then we get to the title track, a radio anthem, where it all becomes clear that The Devil is a metaphor for Russia and the United States is the young girl who is seduced, corrupted and wedded into a Satanic covenant with the beast. It’s all there in black and white. The Carrie Underwood-esque lyrics alongside a backdrop of vodka and caviar and backchannels and Seychllian bank accounts. That’s how they did it. They went after our country performers and got the rubes to feel good about being Russian assets. And still, it is the feel-good anthem of the summer.Finally, the haunting album closer “Worm In the Wood” is Electric Six at its most serious, most tender and emotional. Haunting. Effervescent. Corrupt. Jaundiced. Tired.So there you have it. Electric Six is back with its fourteenth record and it’s poppy and feel-good, as well as heavy, both sonically and lyrically. Our sound will corrupt you and enslave you as the beautiful demonic bride you know you truly are. Fraulein, take this severed hand with it’s creepy long nails from the beginning of time. To do so is truly thine destiny.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Gus Dapperton
Gus Dapperton has always been obsessed with building new worlds. It’s been part of his passion since he started making songs in Garageband, a creator’s mindset that eventually shaped two independent albums of defiantly original alt-pop. Now signed to Warner Records, Dapperton goes even further on his new project, Henge, immersing himself in bold details and immersive songwriting to conjure a twilight world that permanently hovers between sunset and sunrise throughout 11 mercurial songs.”Manhattanhenge happens in New York when the sun lines up perfectly between the buildings and it looks like a solstice,” the artist-producer says of his cryptic album title. “I came up with the concept about someone entering this underworld as the sun goes down and trying to get home before dawn — or risk being stuck in a time loop.” The push and pull between nighttime revelry and sun-dappled safety resonates with Dapperton in post-pandemic America.”A lot of my life after COVID is just trying to embrace the world again,” the 26-year-old says. “I was always an introvert, but now I get an adrenaline rush from being around people.” While there is a distinct thematic throughline, Dapperton wants listeners to go on their own journeys. “I write songs that can be taken out of context and enjoyed individually, but there’s a story you could follow if you wanted to.”Dapperton’s love of sonic world-building has deep roots. The Warwick, New York native didn’t grow up in a traditionally musical family, but there was always something blasting from the radio. As much as he loved music, he didn’t think he would ever make his own: “I tried picking up the guitar,” he remembers. “It didn’t really stick.” An eighth-grade music class changed all that. Students were tasked with making a song in GarageBand — and Dapperton had found his instrument.Dapperton spent the rest of high school making beats. By the time college came around, his confidence had blossomed. “I started picking up instruments and singing,” he says. While attending Drexel University, he played gigs in Philadelphia and ventured to New York City with just his “computer, an MPD pad, and a guitar.” He soon dropped out and released a series of independent EPs as well as the acclaimed albums Where Polly People Go to Read and Orca. With buzz brewing, a feel-good feature would be his breakthrough.”Supalonely,” a collaboration with New Zealand singer-songwriter BENEE, went viral during lockdown in 2020 and amassed more than one billion streams on its way to becoming a double-Platinum hit. “It gave me and other indie artists credibility,” he says. “It showed that alt-pop songs can be massive.” Dapperton signed to Warner Records in 2022 and immediately got started on Henge.From the outset, he knew his approach would be different. Instead of starting with songs, Dapperton plotted out moods and titles and worked backward. “I didn’t follow a super-stern formula,” he says. That’s particularly true of “Sunrise,” the sprawling opening track. Taking inspiration from film scores, the song begins with a strummed guitar before synths erupt and our protagonist enters the Manhattan underworld.From there, the artist-producer dabbles in ’80s-inspired new wave on the catchy lead single “Horizons” and ’70s funk on “Homebody.” The album’s eclectic sprawl is also reflected in Dapperton’s choice of collaborators, including a reunion with BENEE on “Don’t Let Me Down.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
Shovels and Rope
This is a seated show.As the Brontë sister wrote, “The ties that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine.” Shovels & Rope, the musical duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, embody that bond. Married for a decade, their covenant extends to blood and beyond: as parents, bandmates, and creative collaborators who can now add the pursuits of festival curators, film subjects, and children’s book authors to that mighty list. Having released four studio albums and two collaborative projects (Busted Jukebox, Vol. 1 & 2) since 2008, Trent and Hearst have built their reputation on skill, sweat, and, yes, blood. Now, with the tough and elegant new record By Blood, as well as their High Water Festival in their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, “Shovels & Rope: The Movie”, and the picture book “C’mon Utah!”, Shovels & Rope are primed for their biggest year yet.Accomplished musicians in their own right prior to dedicating themselves full time to Shovels & Rope in 2011, Trent and Hearst have made a career together by seizing opportunities and never resting on their laurels or being complacent in doing something just because. Carving out a niche in the music world with strong, roots/indie/folk/rock-inspired efforts like 2012’s O’ Be Joyful, 2014’s Swimmin’ Time, and 2016’s inward-looking Little Seeds, as well as their powerful live show, far-reaching tours, and myriad TV and festival appearances, Shovels & Rope have earned the right to follow their own muse. And so, in an effort to satisfy their numerous creative interests and adapt to a changing industry, Trent and Hearst have firmly planted their flag in realms beyond recording and releasing albums.The third annual High Water Festival curated by the band will be held over a weekend in April and will bring 10,000 fans to a park in North Charleston to witness a lineup of artists comparable to some of the best in the country—including Leon Bridges, The Head & The Heart, Lord Huron, Jenny Lewis, Mitski, and Shovels & Rope themselves. High Water benefits select organizations and water conservation charities in Charleston and aims to avoid the feeling of corporate inundation and discomfort that plagues many big-name music events. Trent and Hearst work with production companies and agencies to book acts, then serve as on-site hosts in addition to performing throughout the weekend.“Shovels & Rope: The Movie” is a performance film that has been expanded into feature-length with an external narrative weaving through and connecting the live performances. Directed by their frequent visual collaborator, Curtis Millard, the ‘live show’ portion of the filming took place over two nights at The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, during the tour for Little Seeds. The rest of the film was shot in various locations in and around the Southeast. The result can be described as a David Lynch meets John Hughes (a fun, silly, and tongue-in-cheek film for fans to enjoy that also represents the band at the peak of their live power.)The children’s book, “C’mon Utah!”, sets the lyrics from the new song of the same name to illustrations by the artist Julio Cotto. It is an inspirational story, set in the future aftermath of the building and subsequent destruction of the southern border wall. The separated and displaced families are figuring out how to start to put the pieces back together. Communities form to organize and support each other.Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
