A Very Cy&I Album Release Show
CY&I
Mipso
Mipso formed in 2012 as an excuse to play together between classes in Chapel Hill. Joseph Terrell came from a family of banjo-playing uncles and a guitarist grandma, and he’d gotten curious again about the string band music he’d heard as a kid. Jacob Sharp was raised on equal parts Doc Watson and Avett Brothers in the N.C. mountains and was hunting for a chance to sing harmonies. Wood Robinson added a Charlie Haden-esque interest in bridging jazz and grass sensibilities on the double bass, and Libby Rodenbough soon joined on fiddle, unsatisfied by her classical violin training but drawn like a moth toward the glow of old, weird Americana.Their first album, “Dark Holler Pop,” produced by Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse), included Terrell-penned fan favorites “Louise” and “Couple Acres Greener” and turned the recent grads into a full-blown touring band. Although it hung out on the Billboard Bluegrass top 10, its sonic mission statement was in the name: “Dark Holler Pop” was groovier and catchier than its string band contemporaries.2015’s “Old Time Reverie” earned them an invitation to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade wherein they rolled down 5th Avenue on a 12-foot bucket of fried chicken. They doubled down on touring, honing a telepathic, sibling-esque connection onstage.2017’s “Coming Down The Mountain,” produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee), added drums and pedal steel and put the band on bigger stages with an expanded Americana sound, including the Rodenbough-fronted title track, another streaming hit and live staple.Mipso considered hanging up their hats in 2018 while recording “Edges Run” with Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Anais Mitchell). After five years of near-constant touring, they had started to wake up in hotel rooms wondering what state they were in; they’d never had pets. The album took off. Sharp’s intimate vocal on “People Change” floated into dorm rooms and coffee shops across America, cementing Mipso as a bona fide streaming success across four albums and placing them in that rarefied strata of bands with three distinct lead singers. 2020’s self-titled start-fresh album on Rounder Records brought experimental Canadian producer Sandro Perri into the mix and minted a collection with moodier landscapes and unexpected textures.Post-pandemic Mipso is starting fresh again with “Book of Fools.” The songs might be their best yet. “Carolina Rolling By” shows Terrell at his most relaxed and confident—it’s a meditative cosmic country-tinged head bopper. “The Numbers” flirts with 60s surf rock while Rodenbough winks and wags a finger at our market-obsessed culture, and “Broken Heart/Open Heart” features Sharp at his most heart-wrenching and earnest. Other standouts “East” and “Radio Hell” will infect you with earworms made of guitar riffs, Robinson’s pretzel-twisted upright bass lines, and saturated “ooohs” drifting in as if on AM radio waves. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Mipso
Mipso formed in 2012 as an excuse to play together between classes in Chapel Hill. Joseph Terrell came from a family of banjo-playing uncles and a guitarist grandma, and he’d gotten curious again about the string band music he’d heard as a kid. Jacob Sharp was raised on equal parts Doc Watson and Avett Brothers in the N.C. mountains and was hunting for a chance to sing harmonies. Wood Robinson added a Charlie Haden-esque interest in bridging jazz and grass sensibilities on the double bass, and Libby Rodenbough soon joined on fiddle, unsatisfied by her classical violin training but drawn like a moth toward the glow of old, weird Americana.Their first album, “Dark Holler Pop,” produced by Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse), included Terrell-penned fan favorites “Louise” and “Couple Acres Greener” and turned the recent grads into a full-blown touring band. Although it hung out on the Billboard Bluegrass top 10, its sonic mission statement was in the name: “Dark Holler Pop” was groovier and catchier than its string band contemporaries.2015’s “Old Time Reverie” earned them an invitation to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade wherein they rolled down 5th Avenue on a 12-foot bucket of fried chicken. They doubled down on touring, honing a telepathic, sibling-esque connection onstage.2017’s “Coming Down The Mountain,” produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee), added drums and pedal steel and put the band on bigger stages with an expanded Americana sound, including the Rodenbough-fronted title track, another streaming hit and live staple.Mipso considered hanging up their hats in 2018 while recording “Edges Run” with Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Anais Mitchell). After five years of near-constant touring, they had started to wake up in hotel rooms wondering what state they were in; they’d never had pets. The album took off. Sharp’s intimate vocal on “People Change” floated into dorm rooms and coffee shops across America, cementing Mipso as a bona fide streaming success across four albums and placing them in that rarefied strata of bands with three distinct lead singers. 2020’s self-titled start-fresh album on Rounder Records brought experimental Canadian producer Sandro Perri into the mix and minted a collection with moodier landscapes and unexpected textures.Post-pandemic Mipso is starting fresh again with “Book of Fools.” The songs might be their best yet. “Carolina Rolling By” shows Terrell at his most relaxed and confident—it’s a meditative cosmic country-tinged head bopper. “The Numbers” flirts with 60s surf rock while Rodenbough winks and wags a finger at our market-obsessed culture, and “Broken Heart/Open Heart” features Sharp at his most heart-wrenching and earnest. Other standouts “East” and “Radio Hell” will infect you with earworms made of guitar riffs, Robinson’s pretzel-twisted upright bass lines, and saturated “ooohs” drifting in as if on AM radio waves. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Gouge Away
Forming in South Florida with the intention to record a short EP and play one show, Gouge Away were driven by the need to write music and take a stab at topics they weren’t hearing in their local scene. They were influenced by bands like Fugazi, Unwound, The Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Paint it Black. A couple years later, they put out “, Dies” on local label, Eighty-Sixed Records, which they didn’t expect to reach beyond their hometown. After some touring, they released “Burnt Sugar” on Deathwish Inc. in 2018 which naturally took a more personal approach when Christina Michelle was dealing with her mom’s heart complications and misdiagnoses. Following the release of the album, they toured extensively throughout the US and beyond. While on tour and in their small pockets of downtime, they eagerly wrote and demoed songs for a third album, pulling influence not only from the nostalgia of the bands they grew up listening to, but developing and pushing the sense of urgency, noise, and introspective lyrics they felt most represented them. Touring came to a halt in 2020, canceling a full year of plans in an instant. Gouge Away took time for themselves to move to different parts of the country and focus on their personal lives. On New Years Eve just beginning 2022, they decided it was time to revisit their demoed material, and to do it justice by allowing it to see the light of day. They recorded with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden East in March 2023, completely analog to tape and almost entirely live, without the use of a computer. The goal was to sound like five friends playing music in a room together, unpolished and far from being over-produced, which is what the heart of Gouge Away has always been. Website | Facebook
John Craigie
Much like community, music nourishes us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It also invites us to come together under the same roof and in a shared moment. In similar fashion, John Craigie rallies a closeness around music anchored by his expressive and stirring songcraft, emotionally charged vocals, lively soundscapes, and uncontainable spirit. The Portland, OR-based singer, songwriter, and producer invites everyone into this space on his 2024 full-length album, Pagan Church. Following tens of millions of streams, sold out shows everywhere, and praise from Rolling Stone and more, he continues to captivate. “The music is always evolving and devolving with each new record,” he observes. “With my last album Mermaid Salt, I really wanted to explore the sound of isolation and solitude as everyone was heading inside. With this record, I wanted to record the sound of everyone coming back out.” In order to capture that, he didn’t go about it alone… Instead, he joined forces with some local friends. At the time, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings booked a slew of outdoor gigs in Portland and they invited Craigie to sit in for a handful of shows. The musicians instinctively identified an unspoken, yet seamless chemistry with each other. Joined by three of the five members, Craigie cut “Laurie Rolled Me a J” and kickstarted the process. With the full band in tow, they hunkered down in an old schoolhouse TK & The Holy Know-Nothings had converted into a de facto headquarters and studio, and recorded the eleven tracks on Pagan Church. “At first, I knew ‘Laurie Rolled Me a J’ would sound great with a band, but we realized there was this chemistry between us,” Craigie recalls. During this season, Craigie listened to everyone from JJ Cale, Michael Hurley, and The Band to Donny Hathaway and Nina Simone. He also consumed music biographies and documentaries on the likes of Ani DiFranco, John Coltrane, The Velvet Underground, and Neil Young. Now, he introduces the album with “Where It’s From.” Dusty acoustic guitar underlines his warm delivery as he warns, “Be careful with this feeling. You don’t know where it’s from.” Meanwhile, he plugs in the electric guitar on the Southern-style boogie of “While I’m Down.” Bright organ wails over a palm-muted distorted riff as he urges, “Come on and love me up while I’m down.” Then, there’s “Good To Ya.” Setting the scene, glowing keys give way to a head-nodding beat. He laments, “Oh babe, I was good to you,” before a bluesy guitar solo practically leaves the fretboard in flames. The album concludes with the pensive and poetic title track “Pagan Church.” In between echoes of slide guitar, he repeats, “I sing a pagan song out in a pagan church.” “Taylor Kingman suggested the title Pagan Church to me,” he reveals. “I liked the multiple meanings. The album cover shows all of us in front of Laurelthirst Public House in Portland, which is an important gathering place for musicians in the area. It’s almost a church in a way. However, the song has an entirely different meaning.” Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
James McMurtry
A Lone Star sheriff hunts quail on horseback and keeps a secret second family. A mechanic lies among the spare parts on the floor of his garage and wonders if he canafford to keep his girlfriend. A troubled man sees hallucinations of a black dog and a wandering boy and hums “Weird Al” songs in his head. These are some of the strangeand richly drawn characters who inhabit James McMurtry’s eleventh album, The Black Dog & the Wandering Boy. A supremely insightful and inventive storyteller, he teasesvivid worlds out of small details, setting them to arrangements that have the elements of Americana—rolling guitars, barroom harmonies, traces of banjo and harmonica—butsound too sly and smart for such a general category. Funny and sad often in the same breath, the album adds a new chapter to a long career that has enjoyed a resurgence as young songwriters like Sarah Jarosz and Jason Isbell cite him as a formative influence. As varied as they are, these new story-songs find inspiration in scraps from his family’s past: a stray sketch, an old poem by a family friend, the hallucinations experienced by his father, the writer Larry McMurtry. “It’s something I do all the time,” he says, “but usually I draw from my own scraps.” As any good writer will do, McMurtry collects littleideas and hangs on to them for years, sometimes even decades. “South Texas Lawman” grew out of a line from a poem by a friend of the McMurtry clan, T.D. Hobart. Driven by gravelly guitars and a loose rhythm section, it’s a careful study of a man whose feelings of obsolescence motivate him to take drastic action in the final verse. “Dwight’d stay at our house way back in the ‘70s, when we lived in Virginia. During one visit he wrote this poem about his father’s attitude toward South Texas. He wrote it down on cardboard, and I came across it recently. There was a line about hunting quail on horseback, and that was the seed of the song. I’ve lost the poem since then.” The rumbling title track, a kind of squirrelly blues, features two mysterious figures who appear only to those slipping from reality, yet it’s never grim nor especially despairing.Instead, McMurtry namechecks a “Weird Al” deep cut and depicts a tortured soul who doesn’t have to work a nine-to-five. He finds a defiant humor in the situation at odds with the gravity of the source material. “The title of the album and that song comes from my stepmother, Faye. After my dad passed, she asked me if he ever talked to me about his hallucinations. He’d gone into dementia for a while before he died, but hadn’t mentioned to me anything about seeing things. She told me his favorite hallucinations were the black dog and the wandering boy. I took them and applied them to a fictional character.” Soon McMurtry had enough of these songs for a new record. “It happened like all my records happened. It’d been too long since I’d had a record that the press could writeabout and get people to come out to my shows. It was time.” What was different this time was the presence of his old friend Don Dixon, who produced McMurtry’s thirdalbum, Where You’d Hide the Body?, back in 1995. “A couple of years ago I quit producing myself. I felt like I was repeating myself methodologically and stylistically. Ineeded to go back to producer school, so I brought in CC Adcock for Complicated Game, and then Ross Hogarth did The Horses & the Hounds. Website | Facebook
Honey Magpie
Chapel Hill, NC – On June 27, Chapel Hill-based folk pop band Honey Magpie will celebrate ten years at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room in Carrboro, NC. The show will trace the band’s work from the very first song they played together to their newest, unreleased pieces. And bring your mermaid tail, because they’re also celebrating the mythical tales that have shaped their writing and inspired their sound. Few local bands can claim a ten-year lifespan, but Honey Magpie has made it to this milestone anniversary, and they’re still going strong. Since their 2015 debut at Fitzgerald’s in Chapel Hill, Honey Magpie has released two albums, Honey Magpie (2017), which centered on sweet, feel-good folk, and Midnight Morning (2020), which explored nostalgia, disillusionment, and straight-up silliness. Though their sound and lineup have evolved over the years – from a 5-piece band to a strings-and-vocals trio to a duo – singer-songwriters Rachael Hurwitz (vocals, guitar, keys) and Pippa Hoover (vocals, cello) have been the steady heart of the band. On the surface a somewhat unlikely duo – Rachael brings most of the “Honey,” while Pippa is more of a “Magpie” – their collaboration has created a body of work full of delicious contrast. Their songs are bittersweet, bitingly comedic, fantastical, yet emotionally real. And the two singer-songwriters are well-matched where it counts. Both love vocal harmonies, nature imagery, and referencing classic fairy tales, often subversively. Their song “Lost in the Woods” depicts a more savvy, self-possessed Little Red Riding Hood, while “Ugly Duckling” tells a story better aligned with the true, antagonistic nature of swans. But the fairy tale tune that best encapsulates Honey Magpie’s ten-year journey might be “Mermaid (Crest of a Wave),” which reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid from the perspective of the protagonist’s sisters. Although released on Honey Magpie’s second album, the song originated as a chord progression the band began tinkering with in their first year together. It’s a song that developed as Honey Magpie matured, and the central figure of the mermaid – half fish, half human – is the perfect symbol for the contrast found throughout Honey Magpie’s work. Opening the night is Nashville-based singer-songwriter and cellist Sarah Clanton, who, in a fitting twist, is also a professional mermaid. Sarah’s cello-infused indie folk pairs seamlessly with Honey Magpie’s equally cello-rich sound, and guests just might get to see her tail! Guest musicians Brenden Macie (banjo, bass) and others to be announced will join Rachael and Pippa, providing full-band instrumentation. Doors open at 6:00 pm and the show starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are available for $12 in advance through the Cat’s Cradle website or for $15 at the door. The Cat’s Cradle Backroom is located at 300 E Main St., Carrboro, NC 27510. Website | Facebook | Instagram | SoundCloud | YouTube
Cosmic Jerryfest Night 1
Cosmic Jerryfest – 2 Night Ticket for Friday 5/30 and Saturday 5/31 available here! Cosmic Jerryfest – Night #1Fri May 30 @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro NC——————————- Get your summer off to a groovy start, with COSMIC JERRYFEST!Featuring 2 nights of Cosmic Charlie performing ALL Jerry Garcia songs! Night #1 – May 30 will feature a special “Jerry-oke” opening set where select fans will get a chance to sing a song w/ Cosmic Charlie! Come browse dye merch & groovy stuff! **Special discounted 2-night tickets available – just $35 gets you in BOTH nights! ————————-COSMIC CHARLIE “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 Hour Cosmic 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. Cosmic Charlie is 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, where 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 the moments that Cosmic Charlie relishes and feverishly welcomes with open arms. Clearly, Cosmic Charlie’s audiences are also eager to partake in these moments, and together with the band, they have indulged in many memorable evenings. Most nights, Cosmic Charlie walks onstage without a setlist, not even knowing what the first song will be. Any Dead tune can rear its head at any moment, and fan requests are always welcome. “INSPIRATION, MOVE ME BRIGHTLY” is Cosmic Charlie’s mantra, allowing the music to truly play the band. Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube —————– JERRY-OKE On Fri May 30 Cosmic Charlie will start the show with a “Jerry-oke” set, where a few select audience members will get to sing a song with Cosmic Charlie! If interested in singing, please send a message to Cosmic Charlie and we will reply with more info.
Cosmic Jerryfest Night 2
Cosmic Jerryfest – 2 Night Ticket for Friday 5/30 and Saturday 5/31 available here! Cosmic Jerryfest – Night #2Sat May 31 @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro NC——————————- Get your summer off to a groovy start, with COSMIC JERRYFEST! Featuring 2 nights of Cosmic Charlie performing ALL Jerry Garcia songs! Night #2 – May 31 – Come early for a special opening set from Liquid Garcia Tie dye merch & groovy stuff! **Special discounted 2-night tickets available – just $35 gets you in BOTH nights! ————————-COSMIC CHARLIE “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 Hour Cosmic 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. Cosmic Charlie is 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, where 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 the moments that Cosmic Charlie relishes and feverishly welcomes with open arms. Clearly, Cosmic Charlie’s audiences are also eager to partake in these moments, and together with the band, they have indulged in many memorable evenings. Most nights, Cosmic Charlie walks onstage without a setlist, not even knowing what the first song will be. Any Dead tune can rear its head at any moment, and fan requests are always welcome. “INSPIRATION, MOVE ME BRIGHTLY” is Cosmic Charlie’s mantra, allowing the music to truly play the band. Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube —————– LIQUID GARCIA Liquid Garcia features all-stars of the Raleigh music scene playing kick-ass versions of Jerry Garcia’s music. 1980’s energy with a 70’s vibe! All stars of the Raleigh music scene playing kick-ass versions of Jerry Garcia’s music. 1980’s energy with a 70’s vibe!
Emerson Bruno and the Undercurrents, Satellite Dog
Last Date Last Date is an alternative and pop-rock band based in Chapel Hill, NC, formed in November of 2023. Their punchy sound is created by lead singer Sarah Brooks, lead guitarist Nate Hicks, bassist Joy Frost, rhythm guitarist Thomas Ferguson, and drummer Kevin Pacas. Emerson Bruno and the Undercurrents Emerson Bruno and the UndercurrentsAs a lyricist and melodic writer, Emerson Bruno evokes a sentimental and familiar quality that captivates listeners. Drawing inspiration from the music of the 60s, many elements of the Laurel Canyon recipe are captured and presented with a modern twist. Compelling lyrics of the universal human condition create a sense of understanding that is packed into unique arrangements. Accompanied by a cast of gifted musicians, the music of Emerson Bruno has reached a full form and is equipped to bring the muscle to the stage. Satellite Dog Satellite Dog is a Psych-Groove band from North Carolina. Taking sonic inspiration from the psychedelic rock n’ roll whirlwind of the 1960’s and 1970’s, they combine musical ideas from a plethora of inspirations to form a uniquely retro-modern psych-groove soundscape. Relying heavily on improvisation during live shows, they twist and turn in and out of original tunes as well as originally-spun covers by bands such as the Grateful Dead and Phish.
