G. Love & Special Sauce and Donavon Frankenreiter Pre-Show Pop Off
Doors for GA Ticket Holders open at 7:00pm. G. Love & Donovan Frankenreiter’s Pre-Show Pop Off includes a general admission ticket with early entry, access to a pre-show performance and Q&A at sound check, group photo on stage and a limited edition poster autographed. You will receive instructions via email 4-7 days before each show with event information. Please note that this event will take place before doors are open so it will be just you and a few others for a very intimate and interactive performance with G and Donovan!!Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Soundcloud | YouTube
School of Rock Fall Midseason Showcase
Free Show / $10 Suggested Donation1 pm: Epic Albums: The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street1:30 – Best of Black Sabbath vs Ozzy Osbourne2:00 – House Band2:10 – Rock 1012:30 – Best of Pearl Jam vs Soundgarden3:00 – Best of My Chemical Romance3:30 – House Band3:40 – Rock 2014:00 – Best of Peter Gabriel4:30 – Best of Madonna vs. Lady GagaLinks: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Westerman
UK artist Westerman returns with his first offering in two years with the song “Idol; RE-run” out via Partisan Records. The new track, produced by James Krivchenia and Westerman, juxtaposes gentle and celestial sonics with an aggrieved disposition and features artwork by renowned New York via Portugal Graphic Designer and Illustrator Bráulio Amado. The song was written after Westerman emerged from a period of disenchantment with making music, and with the future of his career feeling abstract, it seemed unclear to Westerman whether the material he was recording would ever be heard. Creatively, this offered a strange kind of freedom, and accommodated some of the most adventurous and unselfconscious songwriting of his career. Finding textures became a central concern taking programming and looping into his own hands in a way he never had before, creating polyrhythmic grooves to lend urgency to his inner dialogue. “Idol; RE-run” is the first taste of songs written in this period and provides a hint for what’s to come from Westerman in the coming year. The track features James Krivchenia, Mikel Patrick Avery and Booker Stardrum on drums, Ben Reed on bass, Luke Temple on synth, Mat Davidson on piano, Robin Eubanks on the trombone and of course Westerman on vocals, guitar and synth. Speaking about the new song, Westerman shares: “The lyrics to the song were written around the same time as the storming of the Capitol. The compulsion towards the pedestal is strong. The need to scapegoat and revere without logic. Our populists actively celebrate their being people who don’t know anything other or better than anyone else, yet these spectres with their failings conduct our anger and resentment as if they were gods. They are nothing more than the shadow of something else, the face fronting a need to be loved or revered present in everyone. And there will always be another face to front.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
¡Tumbao!
¡Tumbao! is a high-energy Latin Fusion band formed by 7 seasoned musicians from various genres and backgrounds — and we mean all different types — that creates a sound reflecting the many flavors, los sabores, of Latin America. ¡Tumbao! offers a taste of Salsa, Bossa, Funk, Cumbia, Latin-Rock, R&B, Jazz, and Brass. Formed in 2019, the band has taken to new heights and popularity rapidly throughout venues in the South Eastern circuit and beyond. Most recently featured on PBS, the NCMA, with performances in festival circuits such as Shakori Hills (and returning Spring 2022) and multiple publications, the electric sound of ¡Tumbao! keeps crossing more and more barriers captivating listeners of every age and every background.“…it’s fun, fast-paced, uplifting and would make even the shyest person in the room want to dance the night away to their rhythmic beat.” -WKNC“Tumbao refers to a clave-based rhythm. It’s also a slang word in the Caribbean and Latin America, meaning vibe, sexy, and swing.” – NC Department of Natural & Cultural ResourcesWebsite | Instagram | Facebook
Jim White
Jim White gets around. When he’s not releasing his own critically acclaimed solo albums he splits time producing records for other songwriters, exhibiting his visual art in galleries and museums across the US and Europe and publishing award winning fiction.His sixth solo studio album, Triangles & Jesus, is a mind-bending joy ride of sonic influences featuring a bevy of his hometown Athens’ roots musicians, plus west coast indie darlings Dead Rock West, and rock and roll maverick Holly Golightly.Prior to Waffles, Triangles & Jesus, White (born Mike Pratt) released five eclectic albums plus side projects.Numerous songs from his back catalog have appeared both in film and television, with his Primus-esque Word-Mule being featured in Breaking Bad, and more recently his cautionary rocker Crash Into The Sun appearing in Ray McKinnon’s highly praised Sundance Channel series Rectify.UK fans may recognize White as the narrator and defacto tour guide for the award winning BBC documentary, Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus, a road movie set in the rural South, which the LA Times described as “Decidedly strange, delightfully demented.”Prior to becoming a musician White led an aimless, diverse life, working countless menial labor jobs: dishwasher, landscaper, lifeguard, cook, surfboard laminator, road builder, culminating with thirteen long years driving a taxi cab in New York City.White is presently at work completing a memoir, Incidental Contact, based on a series of uncanny coincidences that befell him during his days driving that taxi in New York City. Two chapters of Incidental Contact, The Bottom and Superwhite, have been published in the literary music journal Radio Silence, with Superwhite being awarded a Pushcart Prize.White was a pro surfer. He served as literary commentator for the National Endowment of the Arts. He was a European fashion model. Samuel Beckett once played a practical joke on him. There’s lots more non linear information that doesn’t really fit the usual bio format. But that’s Jim—he gets around.Website | Facebook | Twitter
Don Dixon
Don Dixon on Allen Toussaint, Michael Jordan, and his Least Favorite Part of Life as a Musician
The 8:59’s Album Release Event
The 8:59’s, a North Carolina based band formed in 2014, blend a range of influences to create a unique yet familiar sound. Based around the songwriting, harmonies, and guitars of Christian Fisher and Neville Handel, the band is rounded out by bassist Mike Beck and drummer Brad Goolsby. Echoes of Nashville, Athens, and Chapel Hill can be heard in the band’s songs, which draw from and cover genres from Americana and Alt-Country to Indie Rock.Facebook
Dro Kenji & midwxst
Dro Kenji’s rise is a testament to the power of the internet. Just a couple years ago, the 20-year-old artist was a senior in high school in South Carolina, releasing a string of captivating singles and mixtapes on his SoundCloud. Now that he’s released his debut album on Mira Touch/ Internet Money Records/ 10K Projects, collaborating closely with the label’s team of platinum-certified producers, he’s hoping to earn some plaques of his own. A true child of the digital age, raised on video games and the lo-fi sounds of rap’s online underground, he has a remarkable ability to capture both the apathy and aspiration of his generation in his songs and a spellbinding voice with which to tell these stories.Raised in Summerville, South Carolina, a town outside of Charleston, Dro Kenji mostly kept to himself. “There’s not really a lot going on,” he says of his hometown. “Up until I started making music at the end of 10th grade, I really didn’t do shit but play video games and listen to music.” His parents put him on to classic ’90s-era hip-hop and R&B, but some of his earliest music fandom came from an unlikely combination of his two main hobbies: the video game Rock Band. While playing, he heard songs by Weezer, Radiohead, and Soundgarden, bands whose lead singers would go on to influence his own soaring melodies.In high school, inspired by the DIY recordings he found on SoundCloud from XXXTentacion among others, Dro Kenji decided to start making music of his own. “When I wanted to make a song, I didn’t know how to do anything,” he remembers. “I didn’t have a mic; I just had a shitty laptop.” At first, he downloaded an app that allowed him to use his iPhone 6 as a microphone plugged into his computer but, eventually, his process evolved and so too did the songs he was crafting, reflecting a sound that was more melodic and off-kilter like the music he had always been drawn to online.After graduating from high school and building a steadily growing SoundCloud fanbase with mixtapes like Introvert and standout tracks like the buoyant anthem “Finnished,” Dro Kenji got a DM on Instagram an Internet Money A&R. A month later, he was in Los Angeles, recording at the Internet Money headquarters recording breakout tracks like “SAVE ME” and “HOUDINI” produced by Internet Money’s resident hitmaker Nick Mira. Mira quickly saw the promise that Kenji carried as an artist, and made him the first signing to MiraTouch, his imprint via 10K Projects. Dro Kenji went on to release a string of successful projects including EAT YOUR HEART OUT and F*CK YOUR FEELINGS, which yielded seminal tracks like “KILL CUPID” ft. $NOT and “SUPERSTAR.” These tapes led him to his first headlining tour with stops at some of the game’s biggest festivals including Rolling Loud, Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash, and SXSW.Fast forward to 2022, and Dro Kenji is beginning to emerge as one of the most promising young voices in his genre, continuing his ascent to the highest echelons of the rap game. He established himself as a force with the release of his official debut album, WITH OR WITHOUT YOU in January, which featured hit singles like “VANISH” and “FINDERS KEEPERS” ft. Scorey and Internet Money, and netted over 25M global streams across streaming platforms. He’s now putting the finishing touches on his second studio album, ANYWHERE BUT HERE, due out later this summer, which aims to build on the success of his debut and continue to push the boundaries of his creative process and musical potential.Instagram | Twitter | TikTok | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
JULIA., By George
JULIA. is a funk four piece from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Their sound harkens back to the funk of the mid seventies, with a modern flair of soul/rap mixed in for good measure. Made up of members Danlee Gildersleeve, Torin Alston, Sean Meehan, and Todd Davis.Influences include Parliament-Funkadelic, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sly and the Family Stone, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Anderson Paak., and Grand Central Station. Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Hoodoo Gurus
The legendary Hoodoo Gurus. By any measure, one of Australia’s greatest, best loved, most enduring rock bands of all time. 2012 marks an extraordinary milestone for the Hoodoo Gurus; 30 years since the release of the band’s debut single, “Leilani”. To celebrate, the Gurus have compiled all their biggest hits and fan favourites onto a brand new best-of set, aptly-titled GOLD WATCH: 20 GOLDEN GREATS. “What’s My Scene?”, “I Want You Back”, “Miss Freelove ’69”, “Like Wow – Wipeout!”, “The Right Time”, “Bittersweet”, “Come Anytime”, “My Girl”, “1000 Miles Away”, “Waking Up Tired” – these tracks represent the unmistakable sound of the irrepressible Hoodoo Gurus, but it’s merely a sample from their canon of instantly identifiable songs that have helped provide a soundtrack to Australian life going all the way back to the 1980s. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, exactly where it’s been for much of their career, GOLD WATCH also features a brand new single, a thumping and grinding rocker entitled “Use-By Date”. GOLD WATCH? “Use-By Date”? Is there a hidden message here? Is this truly the end of the road for the Gurus? Don’t bet on it. “We’re kind of playing with the idea of being veterans and giving ourselves a gold watch, retirement age,” explains head Gurus, Dave Faulkner. “I guess it’s a case pointing out your flaws before someone else does it for you. “We always like to have a slight edge. It’s unknown territory, bands being as vintage as us, even though there’s a couple of examples in the international world, like AC/DC and the Rolling Stones. There’s a reason why there’s so few of us, because it’s damn difficult to do. We’ve basically been to the new ice age and we remember the days of the old jungle.” Hoodoo Gurus learned the hard way exactly how difficult it is to keep the old band together. Back in 1998, still at the peak of their prowess and popularity, Faulkner and his fellow Gurus – guitarist Brad Shepherd, bassist Rick Grossman and drummer Mark Kingsmill – decided it was time to call it a day and broke up the band. They all went off to perform and record with other people, but soon missed each other so much that they formed a new band together, the Persian Rugs, which they insisted for years had nothing to do with the Hoodoo Gurus, except that the two bands coincidentally shared exactly the same line-up for a time. Thankfully, in 2003, they put an end to that charade and reformed as the Hoodoo Gurus. “The real wake up call for me was when the band broke up for six years,” says singer Dave Faulkner. “I had never questioned what it was like being in the Hoodoo Gurus because I always was. After about four years, we did a one-off show at the Homebake festival in Sydney. We went up on stage and played and there was that exact same chemistry there – a more powerful entity than just the four of us on stage, a shared identity that was larger than all of us. The champion team versus the team of champions. None of us are the greatest musicians on Earth individually. It’s just when we get together, we add something to each other and harmonise in certain ways.” Since reforming, the Gurus have recorded two more critically-acclaimed studio albums, Mach Schau [2004] and Purity Of Essence [2010], which now sit seamlessly alongside the band’s pre-split classic recordings: Stoneage Romeos [1984]; Mars Needs Guitars! [1985]; Blow Your Cool! [1987]; Magnum Cum Louder [1989]; Kinky [1991]; Crank [1994] and In Blue Cave [1996]. And now comes this brilliant all-new summary of an extraordinary career thus far, the best-of companion, GOLD WATCH. Website | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music
