Hopscotch Music Festival announces 2014 day parties

The 2014 Hopscotch Music Festival is just three weeks away and the festival has just announced their annual series of day parties, kickoff parties, after-parties and whatnot. Bands will be playing venues all around downtown Raleigh from Wednesday, September 3, through Sunday, September 7.

Among the big list of performers are Mary Lattimore and Thurston Moore, Ex Hex, Spider Bags, Lilac Shadows, Schooner, Gross Ghost, Pipe, Chris Stamey, Caitlin Cary, Hammer No More the Fingers, T0W3RS, Loamlands, Whatever Brains and so many more. Check our schedule HERE.

Album Review: Schooner - Neighborhood Veins

Schooner has always reminded me of the local bands I came to love in Colorado: loved enough locally to keep the dream alive through lineup changes, day jobs, and countless other struggles, but never able to get over the hump. Neighborhood Veins, Schooner’s first national release, is the momentum they need to get over that hump.

For local fans, Neighborhood Veins is less of a new record and more of a remastered, reimagined compilation of the songs the band has been playing live the last few years. The album is untamed and pulsing with vibrant, organic production that makes it a fitting soundtrack for nooks and crannies of the Triangle it grew out of.

A new free holiday compilation from Potluck & Grip Tapes

Local record labels Potluck and Grip Tapes have teamed up again to release another free compilation album. This one features holiday themed tunes titled Mistletow Throwdown.

It features local acts including North Elementary, Juan Huevos, Schooner, Old Bricks, Organos and more. A few are classic holiday tunes, while others are originals.

Check out the full track list below, where you can also stream the entire album. Head HERE to download it.

Griptapes & PotLuck Records give away local music compilation

Local record labels Griptapes and PotLuck have teamed up to celebrate the Hopscotch Music Festival next week. They're giving away a 13-song compilation titled GRPTPS vs PTLCK: Round One, which features a number of bands playing the festival.

It features songs from Old Bricks, Gross Ghost, North Elementary, Heads on Sticks and Organos who are playing the festival as well as Schooner who is playing a few day parties. The other bands on the comp are Joshua Carpenter, Jphono1, Juan Huevos, Corey Pavilion, Logan Pete, The Grapes and Doctor.

Stream all of the songs below or download it HERE.

Hopscotch Music Festival 2011 day parties announced

As you may remember from last year, the Hopscotch Music Festival extends far beyond the three-night festival itself and into the daytime. The speaker series was announced on Wednesday, and now we have the details of the many day parties going on September 8-11 (a day longer than the festival).

There will be tons of bands performing across downtown Raleigh during those days. Check out a alphabetical list of all the bands playing these parties below and view our streamlined PDF of the day parties and other events, which include a basketball tournament and bike race HERE.

Hopscotch announces free April shows, new festival venues

To celebrate the announcement of the 2011 Hopscotch Music Festival lineup which will be announced on April 20, there will be three free shows across the Triangle on April 21, 22 and 23.

The big show will be at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh on Thursday, April 21 featuring The Rosebuds, Heads on Sticks, DJ SPCL GST and a fashion show hosted by Revolver Consignment. It starts at 10 p.m.

On Friday, April 22, Spider Bags, Last Year's Men and more will play The Cave in Chapel Hill. It starts at 9 p.m.

And finally, on Saturday, April 23, Schooner, The Loners and more will play The Pinhook in Durham. It starts at 9 p.m.

Mac McCaughan, Phil Cook, Lonnie Walker & more playing arts benefit in Raleigh

Not only is there a benefit show in Durham this weekend, there is also a two-night benefit in Raleigh for the new community education facility dubbed Moving Island. The organization is led by four board members, Chris Riddle (Motor Skills/Old Bricks), Adam Crane, Kelly Crisp (The Rosebuds) and Maria Albani (Schooner/Organos).

The benefit concert, cleverly called Buoyancy Benefit since it's to get the organization afloat, will be at Moving Island, which is located at 804 N. West St. in Raleigh. It will happen on Friday, January 28 starting at 7 p.m. & Saturday, January 29 starting at 3 p.m.

Hopscotch Day 2: Ryan Gustafson & Schooner

Hopscotch delivered once again with local musician Ryan Gustafson, who played at The Pour House on Friday night. The former Boxbomb frontman and Durham native played an excellent set that was a great kick-off to another night of music in the capitol city.

As Gustafson took the stage, The Pour House had a decent crowd but still wasn't quite full. That changed within about fifteen minutes, as the club went from decently full to almost packed. The crowd was pretty laid back for the duration of Gustafson's set, but remained fairly enthusiastic as he and his band cranked out some solid southern rock-tinged tunes.

May line-up for Local Beer Local Band at Tir Na Nog

For those who are don't know, WKNC and downtown Raleigh venue Tir Na Nog put on great free shows every Thursday night in a series called Local Beer Local Band.

Check out the line-up for May below, which will get started on Thursday, May 6 with a great show featuring Birds and Arrows and Schooner. The music gets started around 10 p.m. every Thursday.

Album Review: Schooner - Duck Kee Sessions

When a band goes into the studio for a "session" album, there's always a worry that the studio may figure too prominently into the compositions and overwhelm, rather than enhance, what the band does well. This isn't the case with the Duck Kee Sessions

Schooner has always been about simple, loose southern pop with hints of strangeness simmering beneath. The heat is turned up on this EP and the hints begin to boil, occasionally bubbling up to the surface to compliment the other sounds.

Schooner's new EP to be CyTunes exclusive

Local rockers Schooner are giving exclusive rights to their next release release to charity. The 6-song EP dubbed Duck Kee Sessions will be released on Tuesday, February 9 exclusively via CyTunes. For those unfamiliar with CyTunes, check out our December 2008 post about the music service. All proceeds from the site benefit the Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.

The band will have a release show for the EP at The Pinhook in Durham on Friday, February 19 with Erie Choir, Veelee and The Popular Kids.

Check out the EP's track list below as well as a download of the lead-off track "Feel Better." You'll also find Schooner's upcoming dates and radio appearances down there too.

2009 Troika Festival line-up revealed, 56 bands so far

Though it's still three months away, buzz for the 2009 Troika Festival is already building with the release of the bulk of the line-up. 56 bands are on the bill so far, and they run the gamut. It includes local heavy-hitters such as Bowerbirds, Dex Romweber Duo, Birds of Avalon and Hammer No More the Fingers as well as up-and-coming groups like The Huguenots, The Tender Fruit and Gray Young. Check out the full list of 56 bands below.

Troika will be going down on November 5, 6 and 7 in Durham. Specific venues and schedules will be released in due time.

Meanwhile, sample some mp3s of some of the bands playing the festival below. Any bands on the list who want an mp3 of your band added, just drop it to us via email at triangle_ music@hotmail.com.

Downtown Live starts announcing support acts

The Downtown Live folks have started announcing the support acts for their summer series and one surprising thing is that the Joan Jett show just got way cooler. Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, Schooner and The T's will play before Jett at the July 11 show. If you're surprised at the quality bookings there, so are we.

Going the other direction, Marcy Playground will play the August 8 show with Tonic. Yeah, the "Sex and Candy" guys. I had no idea these guys were still around.

Downtown Live schedule:
05.30.09 - Candlebox, Parmalee, Old Habits, Big Rick & the Bombers
06.13.09 - Filter, Bill West, Bright Young Things, Ethan Hanson
06.27.09 - The Tubes, The Loners, Ascella Vega, Zydecopious
07.11.09 - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, The T's, Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, Schooner
07.25.09 - Charlie Daniels Band, American Aquarium, Brent Jordan, Lonnie Walker
08.08.09 - Tonic, Marcy Playground, Green River Ordinance, River City Ransom, Kevin Wing, Colourside
08.22.09 - headliner TBA, Airiel Down, Adam Pitts, The Urban Sophisticates

[photo by David Winton]

WKNC announces Double Barrel Benefit 6 bands

WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit will celebrate the sixth year of the annual concert on February 6 and 7 at The Pour House and the bands for each night have just been announced. As always, they've picked a nice selection of local bands. The big news this year is that Saturday night's show will feature a set by Triangle alumns Polvo.

Here's how each night shakes out.

Friday, February 6
Bowerbirds
Schooner
Lonnie Walker
Lost in the Trees

Saturday, February 7
Polvo
Birds of Avalon
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies
I Was Totally Destroying It

Tickets for the show are $7 in advance and $9 on the day of the show. Advance tickets are available here. See you there.

Ivan Howard, Reid Johnson, Zeno Gill form Flute Flies

Ivan Howard (of The Rosebuds), Reid Johnson (of Schooner) and Zeno Gill (of Pox World Empire) have joined forces and started a new project called The Flute Flies. The project was started in order to raise money to pay the medical expenses of the late Cy Rawls. Rawls' friends have laid the groundwork for a service called CyTunes which will feature original music recorded specifically for this cause. The service has not launched yet, but you can read an update on the project here.

You don't have to wait to hear new music from The Flute Flies though. The group have uploaded three songs which you can hear now via MySpace. They're quite good.

Four local songwriters play 'Music on the Porch'

We've mentioned in recent Rosebuds posts that Ivan will be playing solo set at Love House on UNC's campus this Thursday and we now have more details on the show.

The event is called "Music on the Porch" and will feature four local songwriters including Ivan Howard of The Rosebuds, Sara Bell of Shark Quest and Regina Hexaphone, Michael Holland of the late Jennyanykind and Reid Johnson of Schooner. Each songwriter will play some songs and discuss how growing up in North Carolina has affected their music.

The event will take place this Thursday, September 25 from 4 to 6 PM. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. The Love House is at 410 East Franklin Street, at the corner of Battle and Franklin.

So don't miss these songwriters discussing their craft and growing up in North Carolina. It should be a fun and informative two hours.