New York band and Merge Records artist Hospitality are hitting the road this fall in continued support of their self-titled full-length album released earlier this year (check out the album review HERE).
Alt-country mainstays the Old 97's are hitting the road again this year and will be celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of their 1997 album Too Far to Care. They will play the album in its entirety at each show and will then play a second set of hits and other tunes.
One of the loudest bands around, Swans (anyone who was at their Hopscotch set last year can corroborate the loudness of their performance), is hitting the road again this fall in support of their forthcoming double album The Seer, due out on August 28. |
| Photos by Kevin Norris |
Ohio rockers The Afghan Whigs have reunited and are heading down to Austin to play the Austin City Limits Festival in October. They have planned an east coast tour around the appearance which will bring them to the Triangle.
Alabama hip-hop artist Yelawolf is planning to spend much of the fall on tour in support of his latest album Radioactive, released last year. The tour is dubbed the Slumerican Tour and it will be making a stop in the Triangle. |
| "Live and Die" |
 |
| Photo by Kristin Lidell |
“Been the hottest summer that I’ve known,” begins lead singer Nate Tarr on the opening title track of Wood Ear’s newest album, Steeple Vultures, and the band makes the listener sweat.
Duke Performances has continually presented some of the most exciting performances in the Triangle in recent years and the 2012-13 season, which was just announced, continues that tradition. Here's a roundup of some of the shows that really perked up our ears.
North Carolina lads The Avett Brothers are currently making their way across the western half of the U.S. and took the time to stop by Conan on Thursday before playing a big show at the Nokia Live Theatre in Los Angeles.
Bowerbirds have been cranking out music videos from their new album The Clearing. First there was "Tuck the Darkness In" back in March, then "Overcome With Light" earlier this month, and now there's another new clip.
News has been sparse from The Rosebuds lately but that could be because the band has been busy settling into their new digs in Brooklyn.
Superchunk just released their new single, "This Summer," last week and the band have a few festival appearances scheduled this year as well as a big hometown show next month.
Triangle expatriate Tift Merritt has signed with Haw River based label Yep Roc Records who release her new album this fall.
Pop troubadour Rufus Wainwright released his seventh studio album Out of the Game in April and has just extended his 2012 tour plans to include a long-awaited stop in the Triangle.
Chapel Hill trio Spider Bags are gearing up to release a new album on August 7 via Odessa Records titled Shake My Head. The process of making album is said to have started over a year ago with an in-store performance at Goner Records in Memphis.
Soul legend Al Green, whose hit song "Let's Stay Together" was injected with new life by President Obama, is hitting the road this year and will be coming to the Triangle. |
| Photo by Kevin Norris |
 |
| Photo by Jennifer Leigh |
 |
| Photos by Kevin Norris |
 |
| Photo by Nusper Kek |
 |
| Photos by Kevin Norris |
The Independent recently started the Simple Music Video Series, a series of performances filmed around the Triangle. The first two featured Frank Fairfield and John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff which you can check out HERE.
Surfer Blood will out on the road opening shows for Death Cab For Cutie in July and they'll play a few headline shows in between the big gigs which will bring them to the Triangle.
Crooning California singer-songwriter Chris Isaak is hitting the road in 2012 on a big tour supporting his latest release Beyond the Sun, a collection of covers of Sun Records artists including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and others.
Maybe it’s all the barbecue and Cheerwine, but North Carolina bands age better than others. After 30 years, the original lineup of The dB’s is back together and, like their Tar Heel brethren like Superchunk and Polvo, their new album, Falling Off the Sky, is not nostalgic fan service. 
Philadelphia rockers Dr. Dog will spend a large portion of the summer and fall supporting their latest album Be the Void and will make their way to the Triangle and four other N.C. towns.
 |
| Photos by Kevin Norris |
Bowerbirds are back again with a new music video for the song "Overcome with Light" from their latest album The Clearing.
Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai is preparing to release his new album, The Story of Light, on August 14 and will hit the road on a big summer/fall tour in support of it.
Singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin just released a memoir titled Diamond in the Rough as well as her eight full-length album titled All Fall Down. She'll spend much of the year on the road supporting it and will make her way to the Triangle this fall.
 |
| Photos by Kevin Norris |
Legends of heavy music, the Melvins, just released a new album titled yesterday, June 5, titled Freak Puke. The band will hit the road on a big fall tour and will be attempting to set a Guinness Record along the way.
Los Angeles band Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is preparing to release a new album in August, 
With a new label (French Kicks) and three new members in tow, Crocodiles sounds like a brand new band on their third LP, Endless Flowers.
Back in the spring when Bowerbirds were touring Europe, they stopped by Studio Brussel in Brussels, Belgium, to perform a few songs, one of which was a fantastic cover of Doug Paisley's "No One But You." They also performed the song "Walk the Furrows" from The Clearing. Check out both performances below.
Gravely-voiced rapper DMX is gearing up for a big comeback in 2012. He'll release his first album in six years, Undisputed, at some point this year. The album was originally due out in the spring, but a new date has not been announced yet.