festival preview: bristol rhythm & roots reunion

shep. and I discovered Bristol Rhythm & Roots — or just “Bristol” to bands and regular festival-goers — back in 2009, when friends Holy Ghost Tent Revival and the New Familiars both played; we attended again in 2010, took 2011 because of its proximity to Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival, and in 2012, I just said…

no friends tour 2012

I love when I get to watch people I love be awesome. I mean, of course, it happens all the time here, because so many musicians I love, but somehow it’s even better and more magical when it’s out-of-town friends being awesome. Adam WarRock and Tribe One, plus Mikal Khill and Jesse Dangerously, rocked the…

album review: will johnson — scorpion

Will Johnson — Scorpion. Out today. For about a month, the only thing I had written in the draft of this review was ~~FEELINGS~~, because that was how I felt whenever I listened to it. And when I say listened to it, I really mean got totally hung up on “You Will Be Here, Mine”…

hopscotch preview: triangle bands i love

Plenty of blogs out there — including Speakers in Code! — will tell you which national acts to catch at Hopscotch. For you, my dear readers, I shall tell out-of-towners and Triangle-residents-who-only-leave-the-house-once-a-year which locals are worth their salt, your time, and more, like who pays for photo jobs in vinyl. Aren’t those the important things?…

promo photos: bombadil

Had the pleasure of shooting some new promo images for the Bombadil boys on Saturday night, all spiffed up in their white suits. Such fun.

album review: patterson hood — heat lightning rumbles in the distance

Patterson Hood — Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance. Out 9/4, ATO Records. Patterson Hood has always been my least favorite songwriter of those who’ve passed through and stayed in the Drive-By Truckers; this doesn’t mean I don’t love Patterson’s songwriting, not by any stretch of the imagination, because I do, and he’s written some of…

phil cook & his feat – the weather station @ the FARM

Another beautiful show at the FARM, thanks to Elyse and Colie and Leland, Ampersand Booking, Phil Cook, Tamara from the Weather Station, and Ryan Gustafson & Josh Moore, who I heard put on an amazing set during a killer lightning storm (though we’d bailed for home before then). Rapidly becoming one of my favorite places…

bombadil & you won’t @ the cradle

Bombadil, like Josh Ritter, is a band that performs with such a sense of sheer joy at what they do — it radiates from the stage and infects the audience, who gives it back to him. Last night at the Cradle, there was a moment where I was standing in the crow’s nest, shooting the…