Videos: Scan, Indy Week

Live: Dex Romweber Duo rips through the catalog in Durham

Dan Schram — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:12:00 -0400

Friday night at the Casbah in Durham, the underground heroes of the Dex Romweber Duo took the stage. Running through a blistering set, the Duo showed no signs of rust, despite having not performed in some time.…

Live: Four songwriters test new waters (Videos)

Dan Schram — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:16:00 -0400

Last Thursday, the Casbah in Durham continued its songwriters in the round series. The first installment featured Heather McEntire, Hiss Golden Messenger, Amy Ray and Phil Cook.…

Live: The Morning After finds unlikely pop success

Dan Schram — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:58:00 -0400

Turning to Jac Cain as The Morning After stepped off stage Friday night at The Pour House, I asked him for his impressions of the group: "You know," said the longtime sound engineer, "on paper it shouldn't work. But the thing is, it does."…

Live: Jacco Gardner and Schooner tweak pop in Durham (Videos)

Dan Schram — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:30:00 -0400

Stepping through the front door of The Pinhook, Jacco Gardner and company resembled a military battalion marching in lock step. Professional and organized, the group was there to get a job done.…

Live: Mandolin Orange shines in its little N.C. hometown (Videos)

Dan Schram — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:33:00 -0500

Saturday night in the small town of Warrenton, N.C., Mandolin Orange returned to the Southeast after several weeks touring in the North. Among those stops, they taught a workshop at the famed Berkelee College of Music (which rejected member Andrew Marlin as an applicant years ago) and the Folk Alliance Conference in Toronto.…

Live: Slaid Cleaves plays new material in Durham (Videos)

Dan Schram — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:05:00 -0500

Last Thursday at the Casbah, Texas singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves returned to the Triangle, accompanied by Scrappy Jud Newcomb. Cleaves has not been in the area in nearly four years, so he brought along a batch of new songs from an upcoming album titled Still Fighting The War.…

Live: Southern Culture on the Skids in one of their preferred rooms (Video)

Dan Schram — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:51:00 -0500

The Berkeley Cafe is one of the definitive venues in which to see local legends Southern Culture on the Skids. It could be the intimacy of the place or how the group's sound translates in the awkward room's layout—I'm not certain.…

Live: Toddlers inaugurate their new EP (Video)

Dan Schram — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:53:00 -0500

Friday night at Kings Barcade, the Toddlers released their highly anticipated EP, 19. The evening began, though, with the frantic rock of Black Zinfandel, followed by the catchy and strange instrumentals of the Savage Knights.…

Live: Some Army celebrates its Kickstarter success (Video)

Dan Schram — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:25:00 -0500

Tuesday night at The Pinhook, Some Army celebrated the successful funding of their Kickstarter campaign. They surpassed their goal of $7,000 to produce and record their first full-length album at Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium.…

Live: The Dead Tongues and Ryan Gustafson have their night (Video)

Dan Schram — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:06:00 -0500

When Ryan Gustafson and company stepped on stage Saturday night at the Cat's Cradle, he barely could have had a stronger band behind him. From the allstar back line of James Wallace and Jeff Crawford to Thomas Costello, Thomas Simpson and Mark Simonsen, each member of the group has their hand in several projects.…

Live: Chris Stamey gets intricate (Video)

Dan Schram — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:00:00 -0500

Chris Stamey's Lovesick Blues seems to be a breezy album, but keep listening, and notice the layers of depth. Going into Friday's performance at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, I was interested to see how they would pull off those arrangements live.…

Live: See The Toddlers' private Kickstarter concert

Dan Schram — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:38:00 -0500

Friday at Local 506, The Toddlers hosted a private concert to reward their Kickstarter contributors. Opening the evening was Ari Picker & friends, running through a brief set of cover songs. The Lost in the Trees frontman also mentioned a solo project he will be releasing in the future.…

Videos: The Backsliders bring it all back in Raleigh

Dan Schram — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:21:00 -0500

Walking toward the Pour House Saturday night, I ran into a wide-smiling Jac Cain. This made me a little nervous, so I asked The Pour House soundman, "What do you think about tonight?"…

Live Video: Mount Moriah & Bowerbirds at Cat's Cradle

Dan Schram — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:38:00 -0500

Mount Moriah, Bowerbirds
Cat's Cradle
Dec. 8, 2012

Saturday brought one of the more anticipated local performances in recent memory to the Cat's Cradle.…

Video: The Love Language brings a big band to the Lincoln Theatre

Dan Schram — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:50:00 -0500

The Lincoln Theatre hosted quite the three-band bill on Friday with The Love Language, Gross Ghost and The Toddlers. One act after another unveiled refreshing material, making this one of my favorite shows of the year.…

Video: Kathleen Edwards talks "giant boner for Durham," collaborates with Mandolin Orange

Dan Schram — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:20:00 -0400

"I really wish I hadn't written this song because I kind of have a giant boner for Durham," said Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards as she transitioned into "Empty Threat," the first song of her most recent release Voyageur, Friday night at the Haw River Ballroom. The song revolves around the idea of her moving to America but not wanting to do so.…

Live: Old Quarter and Some Army at Tir na nOg (video)

Dan Schram — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:23:00 -0400

In one of the more solid Local Band, Local Beer showcases in recent memory, Some Army and Caleb Caudle joined Old Quarter for their debut EP release show. Some Army started off the night with a few technical difficulties but finished strong and also debuted a few new songs.…

Videos: The Magnolia Collective at Local 506

Dan Schram — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:55:00 -0400

I wish I'd seen The Magnolia Collective more times over the past few years, either playing late on a weekday at The Station or some other low-lit room in the Triangle. Saturday night at Local 506, they opened for Michigan's Frontier Ruckus.…

Video: Bowerbirds, Hiss Golden Messenger, Prypyat in Saxapahaw

Dan Schram — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:40:00 -0400

Saturday night offered an evening of beautiful music at the Haw River Ballroom. As the chilly fall wind began to blow through Chatham County, Cup 22 was firing out hot cups of coffee to the mellow crowd.…

Weekend in videos: Jeff Crawford in Saxapahaw, Spider Bags in Durham

Dan Schram — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:22:00 -0400

On Saturday, Jeff Crawford brought an all-star group of friends out to the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw Crawford ran through a set of original songs followed by a set of hymns primarily from the excellent 2012 release Hymns from the Gathering Church.

Later on Saturday, Spider Bags provided a blistering hour-long set at The Pinhook in Durham.…

Drive-By Truckers and Megafaun cover "The Weight," for Levon

Peter Blackstock — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:19:00 -0400

Encore renditions of The Band's classic tune "The Weight" are pretty common at live gigs; it seems most any band with a reverence for American music and worth their salt eventually gets around to covering it onstage.

Last night's version at Cat's Cradle, though, carried a bit more weight than usual—delivered, as it was, on the day that Band drummer Levon Helm died.…

Five songs, dude: Valient Thorr hits the decade mark

Bryan C. Reed — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:57:00 -0400

It’s been 10 years since Valient Thorr, the bearded, denim-vested troupe of hard rock avengers, landed in the Triangle from Venus with their twin-axe attack and mythical backstory. And as the rowdy rock band celebrates its decennial, we celebrate the traits that have kept the band’s hordes of die-hard Thorriors fervent and growing since 2001.…

Dü you remember: Grant Hart at Motorco

David Fellerath — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:13:06 -0500

Grant Hart
Jan. 14, 2011
Motorco, Durham

“There’s no success like failure.” —some guy from Minnesota

As we approached the front door of Motorco, we saw that a singer/ guitarist was flailing away on stage. He had long, dark hair and for a few frantic moments, we thought Grant Hart had already begun his set.…

The satellites are spinning: Sun Ra spectacular in Durham

Lisa Sorg — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:23:21 -0400

I'm not going to devote too many words to Saturday's Sun Ra spectacular in Durham, only because the whole event defied language. It was one of the moments that made me feel proud to live in Durham.…

Two kooky new videos from Waumiss

Bryan C. Reed — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:12:12 -0400

From the colorful monster that adorns its cover to the scattered soundscapes that cover both sides, Waumiss' 2008 self-titled LP offered plenty of enjoyment via its homespun whimsy. The duo's psychedelic, loop-based weird-pop came shaking and clattering and shimmying out of my speakers for months after release and—from time to time—still does.…