so much has changed in a year

I just finished off what was, hands down, the most exhausting and most rewarding stretch of the last three years to date, where I’ve worked and worked and made art and cried and thrown things and worked more and made more art, all in the name of being able to make it, eventually, as a…

wintersleep @ kings barcade

Like every good Canadian band I go see, Pam turned me on to Nova Scotians Wintersleep earlier this year with their 2007 album Welcome to the Night Sky; y’all know me and you know that every attempt I every make to describe a band descends into incomprehensible comparisons to trees, but if somebody, in a…

mike watt + the missingmen @ local 506

I went to see Mike Watt + the missingmen at the 506 last night out of a confluence of circumstances; mostly, frankly, curiosity and generosity. My punk education — my history of punk education, I guess — continues apace at Pam’s hands, with help from H. and Dr. Nick in West Fucking Virginia, but I…

wye oak @ local 506

So the thing is: I like Wye Oak recorded just fine. I listen to their records, I enjoy them, they’re good, and I think Civilian is even breathtaking in moments. But it’s live, live Wye Oak sounds like a heartbeat to me, and because I am from Baltimore and they are from Baltimore, it doesn’t…

gambling the muse @ nightlight

I am trying really hard to make good on my goal to see more, new local bands this year, and Gambling The Muse is one of those bands — apparently, according to my Photojojo time capsule this week, I actually saw them play at the Dylan vs. Petty benefit last year, but that evening ended…

smith westerns @ local 506

I don’t see a lot of bad shows; I see a lot of shows, and there’s rarely no redeeming qualities in any of them. I don’t go see shitty locals, because there are too many good and great locals to see, and mostly my taste in music is pretty reliable when it comes to live…

save our arts: a benefit for central park charter school

For the third year running, Heather Cook orchestrated a gorgeous benefit show for the arts programs at Durham’s Central Park Charter School, and it was a perfect kind of local music evening. Good bands, good company, good food (learned: cannot shoot and eat Only Burger at the same time; alas), in a gorgeous new venue…

the magnolia collective @ the station

Up front: 11pm is a late set for me, even on a Thursday, even in Carrboro three minutes from my house, but I’d been hearing great things about the Magnolia Collective’s residency at the Station for months, from various people (okay, including some people that I talk to but whose opinions are suspect, but mostly…

cleave-fest @ local 506

So far 2011 has been good to me, local music-wise. Good groups of people pulling together to do interesting and amazing things, forcing bands onto my radar that I would not have otherwise seen. Three of my first five shows have been locals, and I’m glad for it. I resolved it, anyway, to see more…