A little more than two years ago, Rachel Koontz then a bartender at my favorite sports bar on earth, Woody’s City Market told me she was starting a band. And she was serious too. Slowly over these past two years she has not only built a solid supporting cast around her with the help of […]
Dan Schram
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North Carolina in Nashville: The 2012 Americana Music Festival
It was a big year for North Carolina at this year’s Americana Music Festival in Nashville. While the state didn’t capture any of the awards given last Wednesday night at the Ryman Auditorium, contributions by the Old North State to what the Americana Music Association (AMA) considers the best of the best has grown considerably. […]
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Simple Music Video Series: American Aquarium’s “Jacksonville” and “Northern Lights”
When asking BJ Barham of American Aquarium about his then-recent recording session with Jason Isbell, an immediate smile came over an otherwise exhausted face: “Fucking amazing!” Not much more needed to be said. In today’s session, we present two songs from the Isbell-produced album Burn. Flicker. Die., released this week on Last Chance Records. “Jacksonville” […]
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Simple Music Video Series: Shirlette Ammons
It’s always a pleasure when an artist comes in to debut new material, as was the case recently with Durham emcee Shirlette Ammons. Apart from her work with the Dynamite Brothers, she’s been making a solo concept album as a tribute to and in the spirit of Gladys Bentley. “Bentley was a dyke performer during […]
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Weekend in videos: Jeff Crawford in Saxapahaw, Spider Bags in Durham
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 […]
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Simple Music Video Series: Kutchma’s Orphanage and I’ll Survive
I don’t know that there is a harder working musician in the triangle than Jason Kutchma. Rather writing, recording or performing live, he is a musician who does not allow his audience to be bored. As most people know, Kutchma has released two albums this year: The first was Welcome Home, by the rock band […]
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Simple Music Video Series: The War on Drugs’ “I Was There”
Today’s session is the first we shot at Capital Club 16. We had the bright idea of filming this outside, not taking into consideration the late-winter chilly wind or the general ambient noise that comes with being in downtown Raleigh. Despite an en route ambulance, a few cop cars and buses, it turned out pretty […]
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Simple Music Video Series: Gross Ghost’s “Devious” and “Leslie”
Today’s session brings us Gross Ghost, who came to Capital Club 16 to play a few songs on a bright Sunday afternoon in late June. At the time, the band was gearing up for their opening gig for Superchunk at the Cat’s Cradle. No surprise, they sounded great. Mike Dillon and company are looking to […]
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Simple Music Video Series: Ryan Gustafson’s “The Harbor”
Generally speaking, when we’ve shot these sessions people bring lots of gear. As we were ready to shoot Ryan Gustafson earlier this week at Gabe Nelson’s f/Stop Grooves Studio, Ryan came in with just a guitar and capo, no case or tuner. After going over a few tunes on a picnic bench, he walked toward […]
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Simple Music Video Series: Damien Jurado’s “Let Us All In” and “Working Titles”
There are times when you see a musician live for the first time and their songs hit you like a sledgehammer in the gut. Leading up to filming this session with Seattle based Damien Jurado, I had only heard a handful of his songs. The very quiet and gracious Mr. Jurado met me, a total […]