“There’ll be tales to tell when we finally arrive.” I’ve been thinking about this line from “Tales to Tell”the unofficial theme song of Chapel Hill band Morning Brigadeever since I walked into the INDY publisher’s office two weeks ago and revealed: “Twenty-three years ago, I applied for a job. Yesterday, I got it.” There are […]
Peter Blackstock
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Tift Merritt concert video to air Tuesday on UNC-TV
The particular August evening was cloudy and slightly rainy in Raleigh, but that didn’t much dampen the performance of Tift Merritt, who had returned to her hometown for a show at the North Carolina Museum of Art. UNC-TV even filmed the set for future broadcast. The finished product will debut from 8–9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. […]
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Live: Basia Bulat enchants at the Cradle’s new space
Basia Bulat, Foreign Fields Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro Friday, Nov. 15, 2013 Playing Local 506 as a solo opening act last April, Basia Bulat had no new album to tour behind, though the Canadian artist offered an auspicious preview with a couple of tracks and promised to return soon. Friday, she made good on […]
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Spittin’ on the schedule: a guide to S.P.I.T.T.L.E. Fest
Read about the resurrection of S.P.I.T.T.L.E. Fest THURSDAY @ DEEP SOUTH THE BAR 7 p.m.: Opener JOSH MORNINGSTAR aims to be both rootsy songwriter and budding rapper on his schizophrenic disc Contradiction; he’ll likely stress the former, though the fest has always welcomed straying from the straight and narrow. 8 p.m.: Country songwriter KURT FORTMEYER […]
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The storied alt-country festival returns for three nights in two new homes
S.P.I.T.T.L.E. Fest view schedule 7 p.m. nightly $15/night, $40 three-night pass Thursday. Nov. 14Deep South Friday –Saturday, Nov. 15–16The Pour House It might have been the best little badly named music festival Raleigh has ever known. A late-January fixture at the now-bulldozed Brewery from 1996 until 2002, S.P.I.T.T.L.E. Fest gathered a dozen or so hell-bent […]
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Pinkerton Raid seeks to shine a little light
If you’re free for the evening next Monday, Nov. 11, the members of local indie folk-rock band The Pinkerton Raid invite you to join them at the Reality Center, at 916 Lamond Ave. in Durham. They want you to be part of a chorus of voices belting out the classic gospel children’s tune “The Little […]
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Tonk’s Let’s Keep It Dark
Tonk With Zen Frisbee, DJ Big Fat Sac & Trent Bowles Saturday, Nov. 9 $8–$12, 10 p.m.Kings The earliest iteration of Tonka Raleigh six-piece that played its first show in 2009staked out its turf as “anything before the Eagles and Pure Prairie League bent country music over a barrel and had their way with it.” […]
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An addition to Cat’s Cradle promises more shows, more intimacy
Eleanor Friedbeger with Stuart McLamb (of The Love Language) and The Invisible Hand Saturday, Oct.12, 8 p.m. $12–$14 Cat’s Cradle Back Room Standing on the small smoking patio behind Cat’s Cradle, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro institution he has owned for a quarter-century, Frank Heath talks about what the surrounding landscape might look like in a few […]
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World of Bluegrass: Saturday’s grand finale
Word began to spread through the throngs of bluegrass fans across downtown Raleigh early Saturday afternoon that plans were afoot for a 2 p.m. “Banjo Flash Mob” at the Sir Walter Raleigh statue in front of the Convention Center. This was high comedy, for anyone attending this week’s World of Bluegrass: If you were there, […]
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How to Ramble: a guide to World of Bluegrass
Wednesday, Sept. 25 Perhaps you already went Bluegrass Rambling on Tuesday, the opening night of IBMA‘s World of Bluegrass celebration. So, are you ready for back-to-back eight-hour clubhops? One oddity of this year’s first run of the World of Bluegrass festival in downtown Raleigh is that the musical marathons on Tuesday and Wednesday are incredibly […]