This week's Local Band Local Beer: The Loners & The Stars Explode

This Thursday, November 3, will bring another great free show to downtown Raleigh as part of the Local Band Local Beer series. Local rockers The Loners and The Stars Explode will play at Tir Na Nog in downtown Raleigh, set to start at the usual time, 10 p.m.

Check out three songs from The Loners and a whopping thirteen from The Stars Explode via the widgets below.

Don't forget, these shows are ages 21 and up only, so the younger folks will have to sit this one out.

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.

March lineup of Local Band Local Beer at Tir Na Nog

March is here, the cold weather is passing and it's time for some more free shows at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh for the Local Band Local Beer series.

Things kick off on March 3 with a trio of up-and-coming North Carolina bands Troubel, The Charming Youngsters and Wind & Willow.

The rest of the month shakes out with The Loners, The Huguenots, I Was Totally Destroying It (they're really playing this time) and The Future Is Me. Check out the schedule as it stands now below. We'll update this post as the two TBA shows are announced (stay in the loop via Twitter).

The Great 8's class of 2009 goes live

The News & Observer's Great 8 of 2009 has gone live. This year's list is a diverse group featuring everything from retro-pop to screamo to hip-hop to a young film/videogame composer.

I'm happy to see one of my favorite local groups Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies made the list but was a little disappointed that The Love Language didn't make the cut. Maybe next year. Check out Jason Graves feature about his work composing music for videogames and films. He's someone I was aware of but knew little about until checking out his Great 8 feature.

Here's the complete '09 class:

Violet Vecto and the Lovely Lovelies
Jason Graves
Alesana
Hammer No More the Fingers
Inflowential
The Loners
Lonnie Walker
Double Negative

Check out the multimedia extraveganza here which includes video of each artist.

The Great 8 showcase will take place at Local 506 on Friday, February 13 for only $6. The show will feature Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, Hammer No More the Fingers, Double Negative and Lonnie Walker.