Melt

Merci, My Kid Brother

“The last ten years have been a rollercoaster of deep despair and amazing opportunities that somehow present themselves at the last possible second,” says Eef Barzelay. “During that time, the band bottomed out, I lost my house, and I had to declare bankruptcy. The only way to survive was to try to transcend myself, to find some kind of deeper, spiritual relationship with life. Once I committed to that, all these little miracles started happening.”‘Forever Just Beyond,’ Barzelay’s stunning album under the Clem Snide moniker, may just be the most miraculous of them all. Produced by Scott Avett, the record is a work of exquisite beauty and profound questioning, a reckoning with faith and reality that rushes headlong into the unknown and the unknowable. The songs here grapple with hope and depression, identity and perception, God and the afterlife, humanizing thorny existential issues and delivering them with the intimate, understated air of a late-night conversation between old friends. Avett’s production is similarly warm and inviting, and the careful, spacious arrangement of gentle guitars and spare percussion carves a wide path for Barzelay’s insightful lyrics and idiosyncratic delivery.“I look up to Eef with total respect and admiration,” says Avett, “and I hope to survive like he survives: with total love for the new and the unknown. Eef’s a crooner and an indie darling by sound and a mystic sage by depth. That’s not common, but it’s beautiful.”Named for a William S. Borroughs character, Clem Snide first emerged from Boston as a three-piece in the early 1990’s, and the group would go on to become a cult and critical favorite, picking up high profile fans from Bon Iver to Ben Folds over the course of three decades and more than a dozen studio albums.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Acclaimed singer-songwriter, Jill Andrews gives the unsung moments the voice they have always deserved. From her days fronting lauded Americana group, the everbodyfields, to her successful solo career as a writer and performer, Andrews’ music has taken her far from her East Tennessee home. She has collaborated and shared the stage with countless celebrated artists including the Avett Brothers, Langhorne Slim, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, and the Secret Sisters. Her music has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, This is Us, The Good Wife, Nashville, and Wynonna Earp to name a few. After the success of her critically acclaimed 2020 album and book, Thirties, Jill decided to dig back into her songwriting catalog. Her October 2021 release, Ellen, is one that feels as if it lives in a middle space between where she has been and where she is going as a musician, songwriter, mother, wife, and friend. Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Bayside

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flor: The Future Shine Tour

No matter how far away it may seem, tomorrow glows with possibility and promise. Even the darkest night always breaks at dawn. flor finds light in the promise of a new day. The Hood River, OR quartet—Zach Grace [vocals, guitar], Dylan Bauld [bass], McKinley Kitts [guitar], and Kyle Hill [drums]—excavate unshakable melodies from jubilant synths, buoyant beats, and lush guitars as they relay a coming-of-age story all their own. The group tell this story on their third full-length album, Future Shine [Fueled By Ramen].“I was thinking about people who present solutions for today’s problems to help ensure a brighter future,” observes Zach. “I wanted to emulate that energy, optimism, and desire for a better world. The album is us chasing the goal we’ve been after since high school: to share our art, bring joy, and connect with as many people as possible.”They started chasing that dream back in their hometown of Hood River, OR as high school kids in McKinley’s garage. The band quietly generated hundreds of millions of streams in the wake of their 2016 debut come out. you’re hiding. In 2019, ley lines only accelerated their momentum buoyed by tracks, including “white noise,” “slow motion,” and “dancing around.” Critical acclaim followed from Nylon, Billboard, Paste, and Ones To Watch who hailed the album as “an exhilarating balancing act.” They concluded a successful headline tour at the top of 2020 only to face the harsh reality of the Global Pandemic with the rest of us. The boys promised they’d continue writing, but the isolation of quarantine and its ensuing malaise got in the way. They needed to get back in the same room…”In the past, I would write songs by myself, bring ideas to the guys, and we’d piece them together from there,” Zach reveals. ”Future Shine didn’t happen that way. When I was back home in quarantine, I wasn’t inspired to write. So, we actually ended up writing all of these songs together during a few separate sessions. We were really more collaborative than ever.”Once it became safe enough to do so, the musicians congregated back in Los Angeles at Dylan’s studio for a series of writing sessions. This time around, they built the bulk of the songs face-to-face together inspired by favorite records from the likes of MGMT, Phoenix, The Killers, and M83.”We’re very lucky to have a producer in the band with his own studio,” smiles Kyle. ”Dylan really stepped up. So many bands couldn’t just go and make a record during the Pandemic. That’s not lost on us, and we’re really grateful.”“I thought of it as a great reset,” states McKinely. “There was so much strife in the world politically and socially. So, for the first time, we sat in a room—just the four of us—thought about what we wanted to say, and crafted the songs in a totally new way. There was immediate magic. Imagine if we went back in time to my garage, but we had all of this experience writing songs and touring together? That’s what it was like. All of these years culminated in feeling like kids again.”“We needed to make a new and exciting record,” adds Dylan. “We had a purpose. We tapped into what flor is meant to be.”Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube

Doug MacLeod

This is a seated show.”Like all great blues men, MacLeod lives his music, and the songs are not just on the tips of his fingers and tongue, they are one with his being.” – Blues Music Magazine”One of the great blues artists……period!” – Jorma KaukonenMacLeod is known for his superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit, and unforgettable live performances. At the heart of a Doug MacLeod performance is his knack for storytelling, bringing characters-from the faceless to the legendary-to strikingly real life.Doug is a multiple Blues Music Award winner, including the 2020 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Artist Of The Year and the 2018 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album Of The Year ‘Break The Chain’. He was recently nominated for the 2022 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Artist Of The Year.In March of 2022 he co-authored with Debra Schiff the blues murder mystery book MURDER AT THE CROSSROADS.In April of 2022 A SOUL TO CLAIM produced by Jim Gaines was released.Doug is an international touring artist who writes and sings original songs that are based on his own life and experiences. He learned from the old masters and carries forward a valuable tradition. As a youth, Doug overcame abuse and a crippling stutter by turning to music. After picking up a guitar, and singing – he found his voice.MacLeod’s playing landed him sideman gigs with George ‘Harmonica’ Smith, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, Lowell Fulson, and Big Mama Thornton. Over 30 years, 22 studio albums, several live records, compilations, a blues guitar instructional DVD, and a live performance DVD, MacLeod has consistently earned raves. His songs have been covered by many artists including Albert King, Albert Collins, Joe Louis Walker and Eva Cassidy. MacLeod’s songs have been featured in many TV movies and the hit show In the Heat of the Night. August Wilson requested his soulful slide guitar playing in the Los Angeles opening of “Gem of the Ocean”.From 1999 to 2004 Doug hosted Nothin’ But The Blues, a very popular weekend blues show on Los Angeles’ KLON-KKJZ. He has also been the voice for The Blues Showcase on Continental Airlines. For ten years he penned “Doug’s Back Porch,” a regular feature column in Blues Revue Magazine in which he shared his humorous and insightful stories with thousands of readers. He is one of the four featured artists in the movie “Resonate: A Guitar Story”, the feature documentary on the making of National Guitars.Like the old masters who taught him, MacLeod’s music expresses life and times through an intangible, elusive quality that may simply be a keen sense of what matters most. Doug’s music, stories, and philosophy provide a healing that has helped others overcome the hardships of their lives.Doug says the most important lessons he learned as a young musician came from Ernest Banks a one-eyed country bluesman from Toano, VA.”Never play a note you don’t believe” and “Never write or sing about what you don’t know about.”As Blues Hall Of Fame artist Pee Wee Crayton’s widow Esther once told Doug, “You have a message and you’ll send that message mainly to the people who don’t go to church.” Amen.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify

Blue Steele Band

$5 Suggested DonationBlue Steele Band – Meet the MembersBob SteeleLead Vocals/Blues HarpBorn: Baltimore, MD. A rock vocalist since 1978, Bob’s major influences were Jim Morrison, Joe Cocker and other crooners of the era. A student at Old Dominion University, he toured the college circuit in Virginia and was involved in the alternative music scene in Norfolk VA through the 80s. Currently resides in Durham, NC.John TaborLead GuitarBorn: Houston, TX. John has been influcenced by John Mayer, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn but brings his own style to this band as he continues to work his abilities on his instrument. After getting his PhD in Organic Chemistry at The University of Washington, John now holds a postdoctoral position at The University of North Carolina. John currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC.Chuck HatfieldKeyboard/VocalsBorn: Baltimore, MD. Chuck was raised on music, as his father was an accomplished tenor singer. He graduated from Virginia Tech and formed a variety of bands in the Blacksburg area. As a Chaplain, Chuck also brought his skills to churches where he served. Recently he was involved in classic rock and blues bands playing in New Jersey. Chuck currently resides in Fuquay-Varina, NCJoe AlagnaBass Guitar/VocalsBorn: New York, NY. Joe played in various Rock, Punk, Metal and Blues bands in the Tri-State area in the 70s-90s, where he experienced recording in a major studio and played in some of the iconic bars and clubs in Manhattan. His work in aviation took him to Memphis and Atlanta which broadened his view of music and culture so he brings an eclectic style to the band. Joe currently resides in Carrboro, NC.Scott LittleDrums/VocalsBorn: New Haven, CT. Scott’s influences of Buddy Rich, Tommy Lee, Dave Garibaldi and Neal Peart reflects his diverse musical interests in Soul, Rock, Jazz, Funk and Classical genres. Scott has been performing since age 12 and brings a rich experience to the band. Graduated from University of Miami, FL and received an MBA from University of New Haven. Scott currently resides in Hillsborogh, NC.Links: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Reggae Bash & Irie Vibes: Mickey Mills & Steel

Reggae Bash & Irie Vibes featuring Mickey Mills & Steel with Jamrock, Zion Project, & DJ Ras J.Nyabinghi DrummersItal Food & Crafts100% Vinyl RootsSpecial thanks to:Bonified PromotionsThomas & CJMickey Mills is an exciting, energetic, mutli-talented entertainer par excellence. He is a vocalist, songwriter, steel drum soloist, actor, who has been called “the fasted steel drum soloist on earth”.Born and raised Port-of-Spain Trinidad, West Indies, MICKEY MILLS first started playing the steel drums at the age of 12 as a soloist with the Solo Harmonite Steel Orchestra. In 1970 he moved to New York where he worked with artists such as Mick Jagger, Ralph McDonald, The Mighty Sparrow, Johnny Mathis and Lord Kitchener. Mickey, who cites Bob Marley as one of his major influences, is no stranger to such well known New York establishments as The Village Gate and Madison Square Garden. Now living in Carrboro, North Carolina, Mickey continues his performances schedule and also leads an educational program entitled Steel-A-Rama, which has been presented in several school systems on the East Coast. This program is loved by children and highly regarded by scholars as a great exposure to the culture surrounding the Trinidadian steel drums.

Cosmic Charlie – High Energy Grateful Dead from Athens, GA

“Cosmic Charlie really is a great band – these guys do this music the way it should be done: having the conversation in their own voices.” -David Gans, Grateful Dead archivistCosmic Charlie was born in the musical Mecca of Athens, Georgia. From its summer 1999 inception, the band swiftly cemented its reputation as a band that puts a unique and personal twist on the Grateful Dead catalogue, a Dead cover band for folks that are ambivalent about Dead cover bands. Rather than mimicking the Dead exactly, Cosmic Charlie chooses to tap into the Dead’s energy and style as a foundation on which to build. The result is healthy balance of creativity and tradition, and both the band and its audience are taken to that familiar edge with the sense that, music is actually being MADE here tonight. Moving and shaking even the most skeptical of Deadheads, Cosmic Charlie storms into a town and plays with an energy that eludes other bands, an energy that sometimes eluded the Dead themselves. Those precious moments during Dead jams when the synchronicity is there and all is right with the world, these are moments that Cosmic Charlie relishes and feverishly welcomes with open arms. Clearly, Cosmic Charlie’s audiences are also eager to arrive at those moments, and together with the band, they have indulged in many memorable evenings. Links: Website | Facebook | YouTube

Jphono1, Secret Monkey Weekend, It’s Snakes

John Harrison has been in something of a sustained period of creative and eclectic output via his shape-shifting outfit, Jphono1. This time John Harrison has rejoined with his current rhythmic collaborators, John Crouch (Caltrop, Solar Halos, Kerbloki) and Jimmy Thompson (Randall Brice Bickford, North Elementary), for his fourth record in the span of two years and first of 2022 “Rectify Mercy”.“Rectify Mercy” is the spiritual successor to 2021’s “Parliament”. In moments, however, it incorporates some of the textures of the “You Are Here To Be Around” volume 1 & 2 albums. These sounds are more often created through unique effect manipulations, however, than synth explorations. Album opener “Let Us Let Go” features a riff and solo section with a guitar all but transmuted into a harmonica, and other moments of the album explore how far you can morph a six-string while still finding anchors in classic psych-rock stylingsWebsite | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Secret Monkey Weekend are family rock trio, ie. a rhythm section / songwriting team of two teen sisters and their Americana guitarist father. Their debut album “All The Time In The World” was produced by Don Dixon (R.E.M. / Smithereens, et. al.) and released in late March 2022. They emerged with a set of 11 songs that are summery, upbeat, yet smooth Laurel Canyon and 60s and 70s “pure pop” inspired hook-filled 3-minute gems. “I never thought I would hear a band that sounded like a teenage girl fronting NRBQ, but this is it and wow did I need this in my life!” – Jonathan Scott, The Doleful Lions “A basket of non-stop ear candy. Great hooks, arrangements, harmonies.” – Danny Gotham “Even with high hopes, I was not prepared for some of the pure-pop beauty that Secret Monkey Weekend were bringing to the Fidelitorium for Don Dixon to capture.” – Jeffrey Dean FosterWebsite | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube It’s Snakes Starting in early 2015, singer Hope Nicholls took tentative steps in the daunting shoes of Phil Collins and Levon Helms, attempting to keep the beat on drums while crooning. The former vocalist for 80’s college rock main-stays Fetchin Bones, 90’s pissed-off Sugarsmack and 2000’s secret Snagglepuss hit the skins with a vengeance and no shits given. Aaron Pitkin added his signature riffage: It’s Snakes marked his return to guitar, a first since the ‘Bones epoch. Long time collaborator Darrin Gray (bass) and fellow member of Snagglepuss coached Nicholls on drumming and believed it just might work. Guitarist Greg Walsh believed as well and the dream was real. Nicholls took the name It’s Snakes from a Lynda Barry comic strip that featured a nonchalant retail encounter with Medusa, legendary snake goddess and first female super villain. The eponymous first album was recorded over hot dogs and beers, July 4th weekend 2016, in Nashville’s legendary Sound Emporium Studio with Chris Shinn as producer. The 2nd album was released in summer of 2018, also recorded by Mr. Shinn. Both albums show a range of influences and style that can that can be traced through decades of adoration of all genres, trash and treasure alike, a little Rolling Stones, a little Pylon, a little James Brown, a lot all their own.

Genre: Concerts