The Milk Carton Kids
Completing their seventh studio album was a hard-won victory for The Milk Carton Kids, but I Only See the Moon was worth the effort for Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan. What started as a three-week recording session in the fall of 2021, with Pattengale producing the contemporary folk duo himself for the first time, stretched into a months- long project that found the pair digging deeper into their craft than ever before. With a new studio of their own in Los Angeles and the realization that they were in no hurry, The Milk Carton Kids took the time they needed to be fully satisfied with I Only See the Moon. The three-time Grammy nominees sound refreshed on 10 new songs distilled to the essence of The Milk Carton Kids: two voices blended together in spellbinding harmony, accompanied by subtly perfect acoustic instrumentation. Turns out that’s a tough sound to get just right, but I Only See the Moon shows just how much Pattengale and Ryan were willing to work for it.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Eric Sommer and the Fabulous Piedmonts
Eric Sommer and The Fabulous Piedmonts are a roots rock powder keg wrapped around a burrowing bass clef. Huh? Yeah, one that’s headin’ down to 96 octaves below absolute zero. It hit Miami, turned around on a dime, and came back on a red eye.The Fabulous Piedmonts are a unique musical force. Ok, everybody says that, but this is one amazing combination of influences. So much so, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher just trying to describe it… but here goes:It’s like being on a bus driven by Amy Winehouse, with Ray Charles as the Tour Director. Ron Carter and Jacko Pastorius are hanging out the back window smoking cigarettes & Stevie Ray Vaughan is the bartender. David Bromberg and Steve Howe as Tour Managers with Johnny Cash and Dwight Yokum loading baggage and William Shakespeare taking Tickets while acting as Road Poet and Scribe…See what I mean? It’s hard to put this into words that make any sense. But the bottom line is this: gotta hear them live!More than the Sum of it’s PartsIt’s a high-octane mix of rock-steady percussion supplied by Amanda Sycamore, mixed with the bottom-driven bass gymnastics of Jimmy Hauer and the guitar-laced lines of lead singer and songwriter Eric Sommer.Amanda can’t remember a time when she wasn’t playing music. She is the newest addition to The Fabulous Piedmonts, while Bryant takes some time off. She holds both a BA and an MA in Percussion Performance, and has an impressive string of credits, performing with Drum Corps International, Busch Gardens Entertainment and an amazingly diverse list of touring acts like The Irish Tenors, Paul Anka and Kenny G.When not punching above her weight as the rocking’ groove engine of The Fabulous Piedmonts, she is the Principle Percussionist for the Salisbury Symphony!The Fabulous Piedmonts have a few extended acoustic landscapes that feature bass lines wrapped around acoustic stylings in an open-tuning setting… using lap-slap. slide guitar and on-the-fly variations… breathtaking!But this simple collection of words is nothing like seeing this show live.… when the rhythm section kicks in a few bars later, if you are not up and moving around or swinging from the stage lights, check your pulse. You might be dead…or in a state of transitory deprivation while you travel from this world through a sound portal on the nights Plutonian shore…Right off the bat, the slide guitar that opens “Red Dress” will grab you in mid-sentence, and when the rhythm section kicks in a few bars later, if you are not up and moving around or swinging from the stage lights, check your pulse. You might be comatose…A Little Gem in HillsboroughThe band has had a residency in Hillsboro, NC at The Hot Tin Roof which has been extended into January 2023. There is usually a local singer or solo artist in front of the show at 7pm and then things start rocking at 8pm or so.As the engine keeps revving up, The Piedmonts’ musical wall of sound starts to hit you like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist: a combination of punk, power pop, Motown ballads, Muscle Shoals and blues-based Charlie Musslewhite-type grooves that pick you up, bounce you across the room, put you up on the ceiling and then ease you down slowly while you try to pick your jaw back up.Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Go see for yourself!Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Soundcloud
Teeyum Smith Album Release Show
* Opening set by John Saylor* Jon Shain and FJ Ventre* Jim Roberts* Eileen Regan* Orange County Allstars* “Thee” Tim Smith and the Will Play for Teeyum Horns* Other Special Guests Facebook
Ruen Brothers
Ruen Brothers create neo-noir Western gold with their upcoming album Ten Paces, their third full-length and first on Yep Roc Records.“We aimed to create something cinematic and personal, an album that takes listeners out of their world and into the West, like Marty Robbins’ Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs does,” says Rupert.A Western record may seem out-of-place for two British brothers (Rupert and Henry Stansall) raised thousands of miles from the desert landscape from which they draw. However, their hometown of Scunthorpe, England offers more similarities than you might expect.An industrial steel town, Scunthorpe sits amid the vast farmlands of Northeast England. “We tended to horses and often got stuck behind a tractor on the way to school,” recalls Henry. “Mum would play American western films as Rupert fingerpicked a nylon string guitar and I practiced my Howard Keel impersonation,” he laughs.This upbringing gave them the confidence to embrace their love of the genre through this album, having first hand knowledge of saddling up, strumming guitars and spending hours and hours in fields, bars and barns in the middle of nowhere.The experiences combine with the Brothers’ technical prowess – Rupert is a classically trained guitarist; Henry, a choir-trained tenor with a dynamic four-octave range – to create a tour-de-force album that both glorifies and modernizes the Western genre.In addition to ten spectacular tracks, Ruen Brothers have created slick, noiresque images and videos inspired by mid-century films like ‘The Night of the Hunter’ to further immerse the audience in their romantic, haunting vision.Ten Paces was also produced by Rupert who developed the skill after receiving a four-track cassette recorder on his tenth birthday. He’s helmed many Ruen Brothers singles to date including their first UK radio hit “Aces,” and their 2021 album ULTRAMODERN. Ten Paces further showcases his astounding technical ability as he deftly manages to preserve the quality and authenticity of early recording gear and techniques, while achieving a uniquely modern sound.More still, Ruen Brothers had the hurdle of writing and recording Ten Paces while living on opposite coasts. Rupert would craft the base of the recordings from Los Angeles then send them to Henry to lay down acoustic guitar and vocals in Brooklyn.Henry often recorded hundreds of vocal takes to get the delivery and emotion just right for each song. “My approach to the vocal delivery on Ten Paces differs from that of previous records,” Henry shares. “I sang much of the album in a lower octave register than usual to create a grounded and conversational feel, true to the laconic, hard boiled characters of the West.” This lower register – apparent in upcoming single “The Fear” – also reflects his years of covering Johnny Cash songs in their British pub days.Another vocal method Henry used in Ten Paces was “jumping between octaves” in songs where emotions are highest. His love for Orbison and extensive training helped him achieve that balance of power and delicacy in ballads like “Bullet Blues” and “The Good Surely Die.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok
The Anchor
This is Yours. This is Ours. This is Home.The Anchor is a five-piece, female-fronted, metalcore band from Denver, Colorado. The Anchor and Linzey Rae have made a name for themselves since the viral explosion of their YouTube series, Metal Kitchen. The Anchor prides themselves on making metalcore accessible and fun for people who don’t generally listen to the genre. Ultimately, The Anchor creates music to help others find a voice of understanding and simply be themselves. We write music with the objective of providing an uplifting message, while promoting the value of self worth. Knowing firsthand the refuge that music can offer away from life’s struggles, we hope to be a voice of understanding and provide a place that someone can call their home. This is so much more than a band, it is a family.Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Carolina Waves Showcase & Open Mic
K97.5’s Mir.I.am hosts a special Carolina Waves Open Mic at Cat’s Cradle – Back Room! Early arrival highly suggested. Flash drives only. Bands welcome. Free for all UNC students with Student ID. Email [email protected] with questions
Robbie Fulks / Slaid Cleaves
This is a seated show.Robbie Fulks is a singer, recording artist, instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter. His current release, Bluegrass Vacation on Compass Records, returns him to his bluegrass roots, with a large group of masterful musicians including Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Justin Moses, Ronnie McCoury, Alison Brown, David Grier, Tim O’Brien, Todd Phillips, John Cowan, Brennen Leigh, Randy Kohrs, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Shad Cobb, and Chris Eldridge. Across 11 new original songs (and one freewheeling interpretation of the Delmore Brothers), Robbie covers themes like small-town blues, the endurance of childhood memory, inebriation, love, divorce, the role of music in strengthening family bonds, losing a loved one to Alzheimer’s, and bluegrass itself.His most recent release, 2017’s Upland Stories, earned year’s-best recognition from NPR and Rolling Stone among many others, as well as two Grammy® nominations, for folk album and American roots song (“Alabama At Night”).Fulks was born in York, Pennsylvania, and grew up in a half-dozen small towns in southeastPennsylvania, the North Carolina Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge area of Virginia. He learned guitar from his dad, banjo from Earl Scruggs and John Hartford records. He attended Columbia College in New York City.In 1983 he moved to Chicago and joined Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus Bluegrass Band. He taught music at Old Town School of Folk Music from 1984 to 1996, and worked as a staff songwriter on Music Row in Nashville from 1993 to 1998.His early solo work — Country Love Songs (1996) and South Mouth (1997) — helped define the “alternative country” movement of the 1990s.Instagram | Twitter | FacebookTwelve new songs amid the 100,000 that get uploaded to Spotify every day (according to hypebot.com). Will any of them rise above the din enough to be heard? So far, a few of them have been hanging out with the likes of young Americana superstars Charlie Crocket and Margo Price on the Americana Music Association album and singles charts, as well as the popular Spotify playlist, The Pulse of Americana. It’s Cleaves’ second release on Candy House Media, which consists of himself and his wife and manager, Karen Cleaves, with hired gun Angela Backstrom promoting to Americana radio. It’s one of the rare self-releases on the charts, and the early success of the first few singles is a testament to the consistent quality of Cleaves’ output over the past 25 years, and to the bond he’s built and maintained with the dedicated music lovers at Americana radio since its inception in the mid 1990s. Slaid teamed up with producer Scrappy Jud Newcomb for the third time in early 2022 to record a new batch of songs, Slaid’s first in five years. Familiar themes of struggle and resilience will be a surprise to no one. TOGETHER THROUGH THE DARK digs into the crucial moments and experiences that shape our journeys. A kind word when it’s needed most, the effort to act honorably in dark and violent times, the wisdom of a barfly, the majesty of rock and roll, the dignity of work and the enduring grace provided by true love. As Scrappy puts it, “This album speaks to the hopeful, the hard working, the battered, confused, and the sad. But above all to the believers in the city of freedom that we heard in the stories of our youth and all those FM radio hits.” Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Margo Cilker
Margo Cilker’s sophomore album, Valley of Heart’s Delight, refers to a place she can’t return: California’s Santa Clara Valley, as it was known before the orchards were paved over and became more famous for Silicon than apricots. In this 11-song follow-up to 2021’s critically acclaimed Pohorylle, family and nature intertwine as guiding motifs, at once precious and endangered, beautiful and exhausting. Cilker and Pohorylle producer Sera Cahoone brought most of that record’s highly-acclaimed crew (studio players for The Decemberists, Band Of Horses, and Beirut) back to the studio with additional contributions from acclaimed Northwest traditionalist Caleb Klauder. Valley of Heart’s Delight, Cilker’s second record on Portland, Oregon label Fluff & Gravy Records, follows a year busily reaping the fruits of Pohorylle’s success, with festival appearances at Pickathon, Treefort, and End Of The Road, and tours supporting American Aquarium, Hayes Carll, Drive-By Truckers, and Joshua Ray Walker.Margo Cilker lives near the Columbia River in Goldendale, Washington with her husband, songwriter and working cowboy Forrest VanTuyl, as well their dog and some horses.Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Rod Abernethy, Rebekah Todd
Rod Abernethy is a unique blend of an authentic southern folk troubadour, master acoustic guitarist, and award winning songwriter and composer for film, TV and video games and the Overall Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 International Acoustic Music Awards. In 2019 he was the Grand Prize winner of American Songwriter’s Bob Dylan Song Contest. His last album Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore, produced by Grammy nominated producer Neilson Hubbard (Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, Glen Phillips), received rave reviews from No Depression, American Highways and The Wall Street Journal and was the Top 20 CD of 2021 at No. 11 on the Folk International Folk Charts.Rod’s talents go beyond being a dynamic performer, vocalist, instrumentalist, and storyteller. He’s a prolific photographer, a sculpture artist of whimsical steampunk found-object robots and a seasoned teacher and adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC, where he teaches how to score video games. As composer, Rod has scored and produced music for countless television shows, commercials and over 80 video games including the Electronic Art’s blockbuster hit “Dead Space” which won a BAFTA Award in 2009 for Best Use of Audio and Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” for Vivendi Universal which won the Game Audio Network Guild’s Video Game Soundtrack Of The Year in 2003.Rod continues to perform live in acoustic venues and halls across the country. Past venues include The Woodstock Folk Festival (Woodstock, IL), Club Passim (Boston, MA), The Cat’s Cradle (Chapel Hill, NC) and the ISIS Music Hall (Asheville, NC). He will also be a featured artist on this year’s popular PBS series, Songs At The Center hosted by Eric Gnesda.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeRebekah Todd has received countless awards and recognitions including 2013 Carolina Music Awards “Best Female Musician,” 2016 winner of Floyd Fest “On The Rise” Competition, 2017 Wilma Magazine’s “Woman to Watch,” 2018 Encore Magazine’s “Best Female Musician” and much more. Rebekah is known for exhilarating performances with acts such as Karl Denson, Mavis Staples, Dr Dog, Dumpstaphunk, Artimus Pyle, Shovels & Rope, Hiss Golden Messenger, Citizen Cope, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and Rusted Root. In addition to having her own podcast (Rebekah Toddcast), she has been featured on Michael Franti’s podcast “Stay Human.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Chris Farren
On his Polyvinyl debut Born Hot, Chris Farren opens with a question he’ll spend much of the album trying to answer: Why do I feel out of place in my own outer space? Telegraphing his inner narrative with a childlike candor, the Florida-born artist lays bare his most intense anxieties and — in the very same breath — documents the mildly soul-crushing minutiae of everyday life: the strange indecency of blasting AC/DC bangers through an iPhone speaker, the inexplicable bleakness of a Starbucks franchise tucked inside a Target. But with his irrepressible sense of humor and utter lack of self-seriousness, Farren defuses the pain of even the deepest insecurity, gracefully paving the way for pure pop catharsis.On Born Hot, Farren fully embodies the sensitive-goofball dichotomy found in all his work, especially his exuberant live show: a solo performance in which he plays to live-recorded backing tracks while projecting purposely wacky visuals (his own face duplicated thousands of times, text that reads “ANOTHER PERFECT SET” at the end of each closing song). By the same token, Farren went full-on tongue-in-cheek in choosing Born Hot’s title and cover art — a crudely drawn self-portrait that captures him lounging shirtless, looking every bit the ’70s-pop Lothario.”In my lyrics there’s so much self-examination that teeters on self-loathing, and I like to juxtapose that with an aesthetic that’s completely the opposite,” says Farren. “It’s a defense mechanism, because I feel embarrassed talking about my feelings so very plainly, but at the same time I also just find the idea of having that much self-confidence really funny.”In the making of Born Hot, Farren recorded in his L.A. apartment and worked entirely on his own, embedding his inventive take on classic power-pop with flashes of folk and punk and ’50s doo-wop. On “Love Theme from ‘Born Hot,'” he slips into a sunny synth-pop reverie, bringing bouncy rhythms and radiant synth tones to a heart-on-sleeve message of romantic determination. “I wrote that when two different couples in my life were splitting up, and I felt kind of rattled but also so lucky to have my wife,” says Farren. Moodier and more darkly charged, “Search 4 Me” reveals his struggle to live in the present, articulating his anxiety in pieces of fragile poetry (e.g., “And you glared at me so loudly that I burst into confetti”). And on “Surrender,” Born Hot turns exquisitely melancholy as Farren details the specific hurt of a sudden friendship breakup. “I was friends with their ex, and they told me it was too painful to stay friends with me,” Farren recalls. “‘Surrender’ is about that feeling of wanting to respect someone’s wishes, but also missing that person and just wishing you could talk to them again.”Elsewhere on Born Hot, Farren shifts from exacting introspection to more outward reflection, exploring life-changing matters like the recent death of his father-in-law and his wife’s experience of the ensuing grief. In each moment on the album, he instills his lyrics with the resolute sincerity he’s embraced since immersing himself in songwriting at the age of 17. Originally from Naples, Farren formed his first band when he was 18, later teaming up with songwriter/musician Jeff Rosenstock to co-found the indie-rock duo Antarctigo Vespucci.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
