Kula Shaker
Yea, though we walk through the valley of dark shadows… and though there is a famine of supercharged, spirit jangling, fractal protest rock, there are good tidings. The battle has not been lost to average digital earworms; the zeitgeist has gone into a spin and Kula Shaker have been called forth to deliver their most inspired album in years. 1st Congregational Church Of Eternal Love and Free Hugs is a firebrand double-album, energised and purposeful in a way that few guitar bands currently manage. It spills over with blazing songs (15 in total), cross-genre sonics and a renewed super confidence in its wish to joust into the big themes: Love vs Fear; Lucifer vs St Michael; freedom vs autocracy; Colonials vs The Indians: The Empire vs The Rebellion.All quite surprising for an album that wasn’t part of the plan. Kula’s previous album, ‘K.2.O’ (2016) was a 20th anniversary marking of their Britpop-slaying debut ‘K’, which, according to Crispian Mills should have been a ‘closing of the circle’, coming to an end-point after a year-long world tour. Three years further on however, Crispian and the band’s bassist and studio guru Alonza Bevan; drummer Paul Winterhart and keyboardist Henry Broadbent were drawn back together.“There had been vague talks about ‘a ukulele project with our kids’ and half an idea to record some sacred Kirtan chants, but then the world went into lockdown, and the backdrop changed.”“Obviously, it’s been a very weird time for everyone,” says Crispian,“I think the whole experience reinforced a lot of beliefs we shared about why we started playing music together in the first place. It was a kind of a reawakening.”“Whatever that spark of life was that inspired us in the beginning, it seemed to come back. We were ‘filled with the holy spirit’, so to speak.”With little opportunity to be together in the same room, demos and re-writes happened in advance, slotting-in recording in Alonza’s studio in Belgium around travel restrictions. The gestation of songs was gradual, many were initially written on ukulele, because Crispian was teaching the instrument to his kids. But the album also has some of his most inspired guitar playing — for connected reasons:“Seeing my kids playing noisy rock and roll really brought me back to life, without a shadow of a doubt. I fell in love with guitar playing all over again.”Wrapped within an eye-popping sleeve fresco depicting mankind’s stuggle with The Beast and populated by heroes and villains, angels and Ganeshas, clowns, warriors, knights and The Marx Brothers (yes) – as if Hieronymus Bosch had dropped mushrooms after a week of the History Channel and Bible/ Mahabharata studies.There is also a theatrical framing to the songs, with all the ‘action’ taking place under a badly leaking roof in the quaintly imagined village church of Little Sodbury. Starting with the introductory Dearly Beloved, the church pastor presides over a bronchially challenged congregation while an epic thunderstorm rages overhead. ‘Kula Shaker 6’ is ardent, but it’s far from solemn.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin is among the most consequential singer-songwriters of her generation, a quintessentially American artist whose wide-ranging canon incisively explores the intimate moments and universal emotions that bind us together. Over the course of two decades, the GRAMMY® Award winner – and seven-time nominee – has crafted nine classic studio albums and two live collections, a remarkable body of work in progress that prompted the New York Times to hail her for “[writing] cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits of specific people…(her) songs have independent lives that continue in your head when the music ends.”The Austin, TX-based singer and songwriter made an immediate impact with her 1996 debut, Living With Ghosts, and its 1998 follow-up, Flaming Red – both now considered seminal works of modern folk and Americana. Since then, Griffin’s diverse body of work spans such classic LPs as 2002’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated 1000 Kisses – later ranked #15 on Paste’s“The 50 Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009),” — to 2007’s Children Running Through, honored by the Americana Music Association with two Americana Honors & Awards including “Artist of the Year” and “Album of the Year.” To date, Griffin has received seven total nominations from the Americana Music Association, affirming her as one of the far-reaching genre’s leading proponents. 2011’s Downtown Church – which blends traditional gospel favorites with Griffin’s own spiritually questioning material – debuted at #1 on both Billboard’s “Folk Albums” and “Christian Albums” charts before winning 2011’s “Best Traditional Gospel Album” GRAMMY® Award, Griffin’s first solo GRAMMY® triumph among seven total career nominations. Griffin’s most recent LP, 2015’s Servant Of Love, marked the first release on her own PGM Recordings label via Thirty Tigers. Applauded by The Guardian as “bravely experimental,” the collection saw Griffin earn still another GRAMMY® Award nomination, this time in the “Best Folk Album” category.Widely regarded among the best pure songwriters of this or any other era, Griffin has had her work performed by a truly epic assortment of her fellow artists, among them Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke, The Dixie Chicks, Kelly Clarkson & Jeff Beck, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, Melissa Etheridge and Susan Boyle, to name but a few. Her songs have also been showcased in a variety of film, TV, and theatre projects, with her original music and lyrics featured in the 2007 musical, 10 Million Miles, produced Off-Broadway by the Atlantic Theatre Company and directed by Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer. Griffin has also been joined in the studio by a veritable who’s-who of contemporary Americana, including Harris, Buddy & Julie Miller, Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, Raul Malo, Ian McLagen, JD Foster, and many others. As if her own remarkable career weren’t enough, Griffin has found time to collaborate with a wide range of like-minded artists, among them Joshua Radin, Todd Snider, Dierks Bentley, Robert Plant, Jack Ingram, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings.Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Kimbra
New Zealand-born pop star and two-time Grammy Award winning tour de force Kimbra is readying her fourth studio album, A Reckoning. Produced in tandem with Son Lux’s Ryan Lott, A Reckoning features brand-new singles “Save Me” and “Replay,” which channel heartbreak amidst a global pandemic into bold new sonic territory.This is just the latest chapter in a series of Kimbra’s overall career success: the experimental pop performer’s 2011 debut, Vows, bowed at No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand. She received Best Female Artist two years in a row at the ARIA Music Awards and took home 5 New Zealand Tui Awards including Album of The Year in 2012. That same year, she exploded into the public consciousness with “Somebody That I Used To Know,” a duet with Gotye that earned her two Grammy Awards for “Record of the Year” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance,” as well as reaching No. 1 on global charts (across 18 countries) and selling more than 13 million copies.Her 2014 sophomore record, The Golden Echo, highlighted her eclectic style with a diverse set of collaborations from Thundercat, Omar-Rodriguez Lopez of The Mars Volta, Bilal, and John Legend. Likewise, her third LP, 2018’s Primal Heart, saw her touring with the likes of Beck, Odesza and David Byrne.Kimbra has performed on TV shows such as Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Last Call with Carson Daly, Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Seth Meyers, as well as performing at festivals such as Coachella, Austin City Limits and more.Moving forward, Kimbra hopes listeners will find catharsis and connection on A Reckoning, whether they are contending with change in their own lives or processing shifts in the world around them.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Discord | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud | VIP Legal Disclaimer
Warren Zeiders
Warren Zeiders was just 22 years old when he signed his first recording contract with Warner Records’ Los Angeles home office. At that point, fresh out of school, the second song he’s ever written called “Ride The Lightening” had seemingly exploded overnight into the social conciseness of young country music fans. After a series of live covers, “Ride The Lightening” caught fire and ignited a community of true believers before he’d ever toured or played outside his hometown of Hershey, PA. Hundreds of TikTok posts turned into thousands and then millions. Zeiders’ distinctive, high energy country music is powered by a steady supply of youthful grit, honesty, muscle, and then, there’s that voice; a world-weary, lived-in, honeyed growl that belie his young years. Hailing from central Pennsylvania, the now 23-year-old singer/songwriter delivers outlaw sermons with his unmistakable authenticity. His music is suited more to the vast wilderness of his home state than the bright lights of the big city injecting a healthy dose of Heartland ethos into his stories of real life and the pitfalls of temptation. He walks a fine line, but it’s that space he lives in – between lonesome outsider and magnetic performer – that helps him relate to listeners from all walks of life through songs fueled by an unshakeable soul-searching. His original solo acoustic version of “Ride The Lightning” became an instant hit with fans that has resonated around the world. Since then, Zeiders has released a string of rockin’ but heartfelt tracks on his own 717 Tapes platform along with “Dark Night,” “Burn It Down,” “Wild Horse,” “Up To No Good” and the raucous “One Hell of an Angel” that led People Magazine to surmise “Warren Zeiders is a wild horse who sings about the truth.” Following a pair of well-received EP’s, Zeiders hit the road for this first-ever tour with all dates selling out in under 72 hours. To date, Warren Zeiders has amassed over 790 million TikTok views globally, in excess of 492 million audio streams and well over 39 million video plays on the heels of his recently released debut album 717 Tapes: The Album, this past September. The album gathers up his 717 Tapes releases along with a handful of new tracks. Zeiders has hit the road again, this time with a full band selling out every show and he moves into larger venues to accommodate his ever-growing legion of fans. This fall, Zeiders will release a brand new track written and recorded with Los Angeles-based hip hop artist Sueco, called “Ride It Hard, ” due for release October 28, on Warner Records. Look for fresh US tour dates to be announced soon.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
Philstock ’22
Proceeds will benefit ALS Research.Honey Pumpkins, & MORE!No cover, but donations are encouraged.
The Kingsbury Manx, Nathan Bowles & Joe O’Connell
The Kingsbury Manx Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | FacebookNathan Bowles WebsiteJoe O’Connell Website | Bandcamp
WXYC Presents: Nightmare on Main Street – Late Night Halloween After Party!
Late night dance party following Bad Suns concert!UNC / NC State $3 with ID$10 for non students
WXYC Presents: 2000 & Late! – a 2010s Dance Party Presented by WXYC
A 2010s Dance Party presented by wxyc 89.3fmIndulge in a night of 2010s nostalgia with four and a half hours of live performances from WXYC DJs. WXYC merch will be available for purchase.Doors open and DJs start at 9:30pm. Come early, stay late.UNC Students $5 with One Card$10 for non studentsFacebook Event
Mike Doughty
Mike Doughty, former Soul Coughing frontman, has released 11 albums in the 21st Century, from Haughty Melodic to The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns. His new band, Ghost of Vroom, has put out two albums produced by Mario Caldato Jr, and are finishing a third. Doughty’s biblical oratorio Revelation was staged by WNYC at The Greene Space. Doughty has published two memoirs with Hachette,The Book of Drugs and I Die Each Time I Hear The Sound. He’s posted a new song on his Patreon weekly since 2015 (293 total at this writing). Doughty and Ghost of Vroom did an improvised-music residency in LA in January 2022, and are reprising the residency in Brooklyn this fall.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
White Reaper
White Reaper—Tony Esposito (guitar, vocals), Ryan Hater (keys), Hunter Thompson (guitar), Nick Wilkerson (drums, percussion), and Sam Wilkerson (bass)—have arrived as one of the 21st century’s preeminent rock bands. Ushering in a new era, White Reaper are unapologetically embracing their collective essence—musically sincere and uncontainable on stage. Grinding it out behind independent LPs White Reaper Does It Again (2015) and The World’s Best American Band (2017), they leveled up on their Elektra Records debut, You Deserve Love, in 2019. A flurry of critical acclaim followed, while the album’s lead single “Might Be Right” vaulted to #1 at Alternative Radio and tallied tens of millions of streams. The band lit up ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! for their late-night TV debut, and Pearl Jam brought them in tow as special guests on their most recent arena tour.Guided by the ethos that their songs are meant to be immediate and timeless, the band went to Nashville, where they wrote and largely self-produced their fourth full-length LP, Asking for a Ride, with the help of friend and engineer Jeremy Ferguson. This time around, they directly channeled the energy of their live show to replicate that connection in the songs. On Asking for a Ride, you’ll get the band’s signature chrome-plated riffs, mixed with thrash, stadium-made choruses, and blissful acoustic comedowns. This is five dudes churning out bangers like their lives depend on it.Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music
