Hayes Carll, Travis Linville Southland Ballroom, Raleigh Sunday, May 11, 2014 Playing an intimate Mother’s Day evening show at Southland Ballroom to a smattering of mothers, grandmothers, couples and just plain dudes, Hayes Carll acknowledged that he didn’t have many songs appropriate for the occasion. Early on, he offered “Grateful for Christmas,” one of a […]
Spencer Griffith
Bio: Spencer Griffith lives in Raleigh, where he teaches school and writes about bands.
Posted inArt
As the free festival Artsplosure turns 35, organizers look to keep it vital in a crowded city
Artsplosure Saturday, May 17– Sunday, May 18 11 a.m.–11 p.m., free Downtown Raleigh, raleighartsfestival.com When Michael Lowder became the executive director of Artsplosure, the Raleigh arts-and-music festival, in 1997, he didn’t know he’d become the event’s de facto downtown navigator, too. “When I first started, it was like a no man’s land,” Lowder remembers of […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Third Eye Blind: Out with the new, in with the old
Third Eye Blind Lincoln Theatre (outside), Raleigh Saturday, May 10, 2013 Shortly into Third Eye Blind’s Saturday night set outside the Lincoln Theatre, frontman Stephan Jenkins explained that the band was only on the road for a few dates and, living by the 3EB ethos, weren’t afraid to show some imperfections. It was an odd […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Nickel Creek gets in fine form for Charlottesville reunion, announces Cary tour date
“Thank you, Charlottesville, for selling this place out,” Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile exclaimed midway through the reunited band’s Saturday night set at the relatively intimate 3,500-seat nTelos Wireless Pavilion. “It took us three tries here, but that’s a .333 batting average. Those are Hall of Fame numbers.” Given Nickel Creek’s six-and-a-half-year hiatus, it should have […]
Posted inMusic
Live: American Aquarium teases new material at Slim’s anniversary
American Aquarium, Gross Ghost, Paint Fumes, Left Outlet Slim’s, Raleigh Friday, April 18, 2014 I arrived on Wilmington Street just in time to hear the last howls of Paint Fumes at Slim’s Though I was greeted by a sold-out sign taped to the front door of Slim’s, the narrow music hallway that celebrated its 15th […]
Posted inMusic
Live Review: WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit at Lincoln Theatre
Mount Moriah, Bombadil, Loamlands, Daniel Bachmann Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh Friday, Feb. 14 On Friday night, N.C. State University radio station WKNC’s bold bookings of popular bands for its 11th annual Double Barrel Benefit paid off for both the station and the artists. With over 600 people crammed into Lincoln Theatre, there was a diverse cross-section […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Queens of the Stone Age heat up Raleigh
Queens of the Stone Age, Chelsea Wolfe Thursday, Jan. 30 Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh The South is notorious for its habit of essentially shutting down (Hey, Atlanta.) after only a few inches of anything wintry. Following a couple days of being cooped indoors, some people in the Raleigh area found the release they needed at Thursday […]
Posted inMusic
Curtis Eller’s How to Make It In Hollywood
Curtis Eller’s American Circus plays a release show forHow to Make It in Hollywood Friday, Jan. 31, at Motorco. Tickets are $6–$8 for the 9 p.m. show; New Town Drunks open. Curtis Eller makes no secrets of or apologies for his vaudevillian ways. His tunes are campy, the Durham songwriter admits, even offering a tongue-in-cheek […]
Posted inMusic
Cousins’ rock ‘n’ roll redirection
Cousins with Clear Spots and John Massengill Nov. 29, 9 p.m., $5 Slim’s Download PDF or JPG of page in print It may take a little time to adjust to Cousins. The band’s leader, Eddie Taylor, used to front the crunchy garage rock duo The Loners, and he howled about teenage woes. But in Cousins, […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Dave Rawlings Machine cranks up the Cradle
Dave Rawlings Machine Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013 Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch have played Cat’s Cradle both as a duo and in full-band Dave Rawlings Machine form, and they’ve been a treat to take in at such an intimate venue, regardless of the format. But Sunday night’s show—one of just seven on […]