Mighty Poplar
At its heart, bluegrass music is about what happens when you commit to the moment. The joy of improvisation keeps the music fresh, and the fun of crafting ideas on the fly keeps the musicians on their toes. This true spirit of bluegrass infuses the self-titled record from Mighty Poplar, a new all-star roots project featuring Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers, bassist Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon) and fiddler Alex Hargreaves (Billy Strings) coming March 31, 2023 on Free Dirt Records. Regarded as some of the finest players of their generation, the playing is never showy and always in service of the song. Though Pikelny, Eldridge, Garrison all knew each other from their early work with Punch Brothers, impromptu backstage jams with Marlin at festivals across the country were the key that unlocked the project. A lifelong song collector, Marlin selected and sang lead on most of the songs here, bringing classics as well as deep cuts from greats like Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, John Hartford, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Norman Blake. Throughout, the songs and tunes are as immediate and emotionally impactful as the playing is tasteful. Gathered knee-to-knee in a rural studio outside Nashville, the collaborative 10-track album emerged organically over a few days. “It felt so special and effortless; it didn’t take work,” says Eldridge, “other than the work and effort we’ve put in the rest of our lives.” With their debut album, Mighty Poplar has captured the fierce and playful energy of an all-night jam between old friends who just happen to be grandmasters of the music.Speaking to the band, it’s clear that each player joined out of pure excitement to play music with each other. “I’m convinced Alex Hargreaves only knows how to play the perfect notes at the perfect times,” muses Eldridge. Pikelny speaks highly about Marlin’s innate musicality: “We listen to a lot of Watchhouse at our house. Supporting a singer and songwriter of Andrew’s caliber is about the most rewarding thing I get to do, so I leapt at the opportunity to collaborate when Greg first pitched the idea for this project.” Marlin talks up the other players’ instrumental virtuosity. “When I think about it from a player’s perspective, I didn’t feel like I belonged in this group; I haven’t spent my life trying to improve my chops. I’ve been more of a song gatherer,” a humble Marlin admits. That last point is key here, as it focused the approach to the new album on an appreciation for the roots of bluegrass and for the songs especially. Inspired by the 1980s albums of The Bluegrass Album Band, which united some of that era’s best bluegrass players, Mighty Poplar sought to emulate the fun and spontaneity of those inspirational recordings. “My love for the sound and feel of those Bluegrass Album Band records–the energy, the undeniable chemistry, the subtle virtuosity–led me to imagine what that might look like in our collective gumbo of today’s bluegrass,” says Garrison. “We grew up on those records,” Eldridge continues. “We loved the idea of musicians banding together for a special project where you explore your common influences.” But don’t mistake Mighty Poplar for a tribute record; the band aimed to find their own arrangements and deliver fresh takes on the songs. In Eldridge’s words: “It’s an homage to where we came from, without it being a recreation of an earlier era.”Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | TikTok
Tinariwen
Tuareg nomads and cowboy drifters. Camel trains and mustang horses. The timeless horizon of the endless Sahara and the wild frontier of the Old West – and when the day is done, guitars around the campfire, singing songs of loss and longing and ‘home on the range’. Several thousand miles of ocean may divide the desert blues of Tinariwen and the authentic country music of rural America but the links are as palpable as they are romantic.On Amatssou, their ninth studio album, Tinariwen set out to explore these shared sensibilities as banjos, fiddles and pedal steel mix seamlessly with the Tuareg band’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic grooves. In the two decades since Tinariwen emerged from their base in the African desert to tour the globe, they have got to know many renowned American country, folk, and rock musicians including Kurt Vile, Cass McCombs, Micah Nelson (son of Willie Nelson), Cat Power, Wilco, Bon Iver and Jack White – and the story of Amatssou begins in 2021 when White invited Tinariwen to record in Nashville at his private recording studio. White is a long-time fan and lent Tinariwen his engineer Joshua Vance Smith to mix the group’s last album, 2019’s Amadjar. The plan this time was for Tinariwen to fly to America to record with local country musicians and Grammy-winning producer Daniel Lanois, whose production credits range from U2 and Bob Dylan to Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris. Founder members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Touhami Ag Alhassane and Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni plus bassist Eyadou Ag Leche, percussionist Said Ag Ayad and guitarist Elaga Ag Hamid were all ready to make the trip until the global pandemic prevented them from travelling. Plans were hastily redrawn instead for Lanois and a handpicked group of American country musicians to travel to Africa and to work with the band in their natural surroundings of the desert. Tinariwen’s last album was recorded at a camp in Mauritania under the stars. This time the band decided to head for Djanet, an oasis in the desert of southern Algeria located in the Tassili N’Ajjer National Park, a vast sandstone plateau that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous for its 10,000 years old prehistoric cave art. There among jagged rock outcrops and dramatic sandstone vistas, they set up a makeshift studio in a tent, with equipment borrowed from fellow Tuareg band Imarhan’s studio in Tamanrasset, a two day drive away and where the first iteration of Tinarwien formed some 40 years ago. With Imarhan’s gear came the band’s guitarist Hicham Bouhasse to contribute to the recording but in the second blow dealt by the pandemic, Lanois then contracted Covid and the American contingent was forced to remain at home. Happily, the integrity of the project remained intact via the wonders of modern technology, with Lanois adding deft touches from his studio in Los Angeles, country musicians Fats Kaplin and Wes Corbett recording their parts in Nashville and Kabyle percussionist Amar Chaoui recording his in Paris.Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Podcast About List
This is a seated show.Join Podcast About List for an evening of unabashed mirth and intellectual amusement, where refined comedy is delivered with the precision of a finely tuned symphony. Buy your tickets now and become part of an elite community that appreciates the finer things in life.Website | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Skating Polly
Over the past decade, few artists have embodied the unbridled freedom of punk like Skating Polly. Formed when stepsisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse were just 9 and 13, the Oklahoma-bred band have channeled their chameleonic musicality into a sound they call “ugly-pop,” unruly and subversive and wildly melodic. With Kelli’s brother Kurtis Mayo joining on drums in 2017, they’ve also built a close-knit community of fans while earning the admiration of their musical forebears, a feat that’s found them collaborating with icons like X’s Exene Cervenka and Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson, touring with Babes In Toyland, and starring as the subject of a feature-length documentary. On their double album Chaos County Line, Skating Polly reach a whole new level of self-possession, ultimately sharing their most expansive and emotionally powerful work to date. The follow-up to 2018’s The Make It All Show, Chaos County Line finds Skating Polly working again with Brad Wood, the acclaimed producer behind indie-rock classics like Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville. As their songs journey from art-punk to noise-rock to piano-driven power-pop, the band matches that musical complexity with a sharply honed narrative voice that manifests in countless forms (ultravivid poetry, diary-like confession, fearlessly detailed storytelling, etc.). Not only the outcome of their constant growth as songwriters, Chaos County Line’s scope and depth has much to do with Skating Polly’s newly heightened clarity of vision. “All these songs are the most special to me of anything I’ve ever written, and I think Kelli feels the same,” says Peyton. “In the past I didn’t always write with a clear purpose, but this time I knew exactly what I wanted to say. We both ended up writing about the most difficult emotional experiences we’ve ever been through, and instead of being terrified of saying exactly what I was feeling it just all came out so naturally.” Whether they’re opening up about matters internal (identity, disassociation, unhealthy coping mechanisms) or external (obsession, deception, gaslighting), Skating Polly imbue that outpouring with an unfettered emotional truth. On songs like Chaos County Line’s frenetic lead single “Hickey King,” Kelli and Peyton trade off vocals as they share their distinct perspectives on closely related experiences—in this case, the minefield of power dynamics in sex and relationships. “In Peyton’s verse she’s talking about never knowing how far to go or how much of yourself to give to someone, and when my part comes crashing in it’s about guys being possessive and always trying to leave their mark on you,” Kelli says. “To me it’s the most Skating Polly song on the record, because it’s all these different energies happening at once.” Meanwhile, on “I’m Sorry For Always Apologizing,” Skating Polly deliver a bouncy piece of bubblegum-punk in which Kelli calls herself out on certain messy behavior in her past. And on “Double Decker,” Peyton examines her own possibly self-sabotaging patterns, magnifying the song’s mood of confusion with a dizzying guitar solo and breakneck vocal performance. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Kurt Vile and The Violators
Back to Moon Beach (Verve Records) is an EP by no one’s definition but Kurt Vile’s. Clocking in at just shy of an hour, this would be a long full-length record by most any other artist’s yardstick, but for Kurt, the collection is an expression of just how deep his well of non-album material runs. Culled from various sessions over the last four years, and representing a wide swath of the inspirational musical community Kurt surrounds himself with, the core 4 songs of the record (tracks 1, 2, 3 and 6) were born in the fall of 2019 at Panoramic Studios in Stinson Beach, California alongside close musical partners Rob Laakso, Stella Mozgawa, Chris Cohen and with coproduction on tracks 1, 3 and 6 by Cate Le Bon. Later fleshed out with bandmate and producer / engineer Adam Langelotti, additional musical parts were played by “Farmer” Dave Scher and Mikel Patrick Avery. Many other moments (including hella overdubs on the Stinson Beach material) are from intense sessions on planet Philly at Kurt’s studio: OKV Central. It’s been a heavy few years and plenty of excuses to get lost in outer space behind the microphones. Mant Sounds – KV’s go-to recording studio in Los Angeles – was a third and crucial launchpad to ram these sessions home… a familiar spaceship run by Rob Schnapf and often flown by Matt Schuessler as engineer. EP opener “Another Good Year For The Roses” is a richly psychedelic piano-driven earworm with swirling lap steel and catchy blues-pop guitars, and a deeply meditative yet characteristically hooky bend. Written a full year before the pandemic – and recorded in October 2019 just shy of it – “Touched Somethin (Caught a Virus)” was originally intended for Vile’s 2022 full length (watch my moves), but was ultimately left off of that record out of concern that it would be interpreted too literally, given the state of the world that unfolded shortly after its recording. Somberly, the Stinson Beach material in the collection are some of the final unreleased recordings with Kurt’s longtime creative partner Rob Laakso, prior to his passing in early 2023. The EP is rounded out with a few fan favorites — his covers of Wilco’s “Passenger Side” and Bob Dylan’s Christmas song “Must Be Santa,” (featuring vocals by Kurt’s daughters Awilda and Delphine Vile) which Kurt is excited to bring to a wider platform (“just in time for the holidays!”) after its Spotify-only release last year. The final track brings-it-all-back-home with a punched-up, radio-ready version of (watch my moves) standout “Cool Water” – originally recorded with the Violators in January 2020 by Rob Schnapf at Mant sounds and remixed by Rob Schnapf again in May 2023 for this release – and for the radio!Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Marshall Crenshaw
Seated Show. Seating is general admission and first come, first served in two different sections (Best Seats GA and Regular Seats GA). Born in 1953 in Detroit, Michigan, Marshall Crenshaw learned to tune a guitar correctly at age ten and has been trying ever since. His first big break came in 1978 playing John Lennon in “Beatlemania”, first as an understudy in New York, then in the West Coast company, followed by a national touring company. Removing himself from that situation in Feb. 1980, Marshall settled in New York City. Enthralled by the hyper-diverse musical culture of the City, and the local Rock scene in particular, Marshall formed a Rock and Roll band with brother Robert on drums and Chris Donato on bass. After crossing paths with the great and legendary Alan Betrock, Marshall recorded his debut single “Something’s Gonna Happen” for Betrock’s Shake Records label; at nearly the same time, legendary Rockabilly singer Robert Gordon’s recording of Marshall’s “Someday Someway” was released as a single on the RCA label. These two records simultaneously broke big on New York’s WNEW-FM, causing Marshall and his trio’s local popularity to explode. And so began a career that’s spanned four decades, 13 albums, Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, film and TV appearances (Buddy Holly in “La Bamba”) and thousands of live performances. Marshall Crenshaw’s musical output has maintained a consistent fidelity to the qualities of artfulness, craftsmanship and passion, and his efforts have been rewarded with the devotion of a broad and loyal fan base. Presently, along with touring around the country and the occasional recording project, other current projects include producing a documentary film-in progress about legendary record producer Tom Wilson. Says Crenshaw, “This is a road that I’d never imagined taking before, but it’s been an incredible learning experience.” “Although he was seen as a latter-day Buddy Holly at the outset, he soon proved too talented and original to be anyone but himself.” – Trouser Press Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
David Morris
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The 8:59’s, Jimmy Ray Swagger and The Fussy Eaters, Salt Maps
The 8:59’s: 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. The 8:59’s have performed at a number of Triangle area venues including participating in the Cat’s Cradle 50th Anniversary celebration. The band’s songs have been featured on multiple local radio stations. In July 2022, The 8:59’s released their second full length album: Return Song. The album is available on all streaming platforms.Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Chapelboro Jimmy Ray Swagger and The Fussy Eaters: Recently transplanted to the Triangle area from their home in Cumby, TX, country music legend Jimmie Ray Swagger and his band The Fussy Eaters have been taking the East Coast country music establishment by storm. Their gritty songs of love, lust, addiction, malfeasance, and pain aim right for the heart and/or groin. After many long months of planning the move to NC, Jimmie’s probation judge finally approved and they haven’t looked back since!Website | Instagram | Facebook Salt Maps: Salt Maps is a Durham-based quartet playing original music with an ear towards country lyricism through a crunchy jagged haze of post-punk. Influences include Silver Jews, Moles, Mekons, Faces, Television, Wire, Kinks. Guitar/Vocals – Hayden Childs (Rapture Clause, Trouble Down South, Salvage Brothers, wrote the 33 1/3 book on Richard & Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out The Lights) Guitar – Chris Rossi (Amor de Cosmos, Lake and Hennepin (ft Reese McHenry), Woodvamp, the Wusses) Bass/Vocals – Paul Cardillo (Soccer, Frydaddys, Red Star Belgrade, Holy Roman Empire, Grey Gardens) Drums – Matt Gocke (Spatula, Kitten Party, Woodvamp)
Teen Suicide
Teen Suicide is a band from Orlando Florida; a quartet comprised of Sam Ray, Kitty Ray, Sean LaBree, and Nathan Munizzi. Together they create music that is as enjoyable as it is unclassifiable, eschewing the algorithmic nature of the modern music industry in favor of something more personal and much more interesting. Broadly speaking, they are as much a power-pop group as they are a sludge-metal band, with as much else in-between as that suggests. Though they draw influence from a bevy of different styles, they aim to create something uniquely synergistic out of them, rather than let them rot next to each other as pastiche.While the band has existed in many phases – first as a solo project of Sam Ray, then as a two piece with original drummer Eric Livingston, and later as a loose collective of likeminded musicians & semi-permanent touring partners – the present lineup remains the first time there has been a dedicated and full-time group to write, record, and perform together. Innervated by this recent development, the members have remained hard at work writing and recording new music – their first since 2021, and the first ever that’s been created in such a collaborative manner – and are looking forward to debuting much of it on tour in the spring & summer.In addition to Teen Suicide, the band members are involved in many different notable projects. Kitty records – and produces – beautiful synth-pop/psychedelic music under her own name, as well as fronting the seminal dance-pop duo The Pom-Poms with Sam. Sean & Nathan comprise the post-punk band The Synthetics. Sam releases ambient/experimental electronic music under the name Ricky Eat Acid & has at various times over the years released music with the bands Julia Brown, Starry Cat, American Pleasure Club, among many others.Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
The Ocean Blue
In 2024, the band will be playing a select number of shows, performing their first two albums in full – The Ocean Blue and Cerulean – in dates throughout the U.S. as they continue work on a new album (full list of tour dates below as they announce).Getting their start as teenagers in the late ‘80s in Hershey, PA, The Ocean Blue released their self-titled debut on the famed Sire Records that launched many of their heroes in the U.S., like the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen. Embraced by MTV, the band quickly made their mark on the onset of the Alternative Music scene. Their early singles “Between Something And Nothing” and “Drifting, Falling” notched them Top Ten hits on College and Modern Rock radio, setting in motion a run of four successful major label albums, followed by a string beloved independent releases from 2000 to the present. With eight albums and several EPs under their belt (Sire/Rhino reissued their first three albums in 2015), the band continues to do what it has always done with more plans for touring and releases on the horizon.The Ocean Blue is David Schelzel (vocals, guitar), Oed Ronne (guitar), Bobby Mittan (bass) and Peter Anderson (drums).The Ocean Blue arrived as the 1980s drew to a close, and their debut record on the famed Sire Records label in 1989 seemed to summarize the best of the passing musical decade. With the release of The Ocean Blue, the band of four teenagers from Hershey, Pennsylvania quickly achieved widespread acclaim and radio & MTV airplay with top 10 Modern Rock/College Radio hits like Between Something and Nothing, Drifting, Falling, and Vanity Fair. They followed their debut with the dreamy and atmospheric Cerulean, which includes perhaps their most beloved song, Ballerina Out of Control. Their third Sire release and highest charting pop album Beneath the Rhythm and Sound featured the single Sublime, with a video of the band in the sublime landscape of Iceland. The band’s fourth major label album on Mercury/ PolyGram, See The Ocean Blue, delved into wider 60s and 70s stylings but with the band’s 80s DNA peeking through.The band left the majors in the late 90s and released several independent records in the ensuing decade, including 2000’s Davy Jones Locker and 2004’s Waterworks. In 2013, after a long hiatus and much anticipation, the band released their first full length record in a decade, Ultramarine, on Korda Records, a label cooperative the band helped launch that same year. The record was a welcome return for both long-time fans of the band and a younger generation of like-minded fans, and it garnered widespread praise as one of their very best albums. In 2015, the band worked with Sire Records to reissue their first three albums on vinyl, and did wider touring in North America and in South America, where some of their most passionate fans reside.In 2019, the band returned with the beautifully powerful Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, and has continued to tour for this release and the newly re-issued vinyl of See The Ocean Blue (2022) and Davy Jones’ Locker (2023). The band is on tour with select dates in 2024 performing their first two albums in full.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
