Just a year after winning one of three spots on Vinyl Records, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s upstart, student-run label, Lake Inferior is now the sole survivor of Vinyl’s first three signees. On Pegasaur, the 10″ vinyl follow-up to the quintet’s promising debut EP, Lake Inferior excises the proggy, guitar-heavy rock of its self-titled debut […]
Spencer Griffith
Bio: Spencer Griffith lives in Raleigh, where he teaches school and writes about bands.
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Tonight: Proud Valletta aims for a legacy
“As my children get older, I started thinking about what I was going to leave behind or pass on to themhow they’re going to remember me,” says Tofer Moran, graphic designer, father of two and singer/guitarist of Durham’s Proud Valletta. “I hoped to leave behind a sort of anthology of music for or inspired by […]
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Live: Shakori, by the minute (Saturday)
When it comes to music festivals, I’m a dabbler. Barring a few must-see acts, I tend to wander from stage to stage to try to catch bits of as many bands as possible, hoping to stumble across a surprise or two. At many festivals, that approach can be exhausting, making it easy to spend more […]
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The Bronzed Chorus’ I’m the Spring
Instrumental Greensboro duo The Bronzed Chorus has a secret weapon behind its intense though spare post-rock approach: Brennan O’Brien is able to drum with enough power and dynamics with just three of his limbs that he doesn’t need his fourth. Well, at least not for drumming: During live shows, O’Brien’s left hand mans a keyboard […]
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The minstrel number “Mr. Catfish”
Listen up! or stream it below. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. Though you may recognize part of the popular minstrel show number “Mr. Catfish” from the folk song “Turkey in the Straw,” the tune is actually believed to have origins in the African-American string band community. This […]
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Mayer Hawthorne’s “The Ills”
Listen up! or stream it below. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. Mayer Hawthorne isn’t the first stage name for genre-hopper Andrew Cohen. For years, he performed under the name Haircut as part of the California hip-hop trio Now On and Michigan-based crew Athletic Mic League. It may […]
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The Avett Brothers’ rise has lifted local musicand spiritsstatewide
⇒ Read also: Our review of I and Love and You In September 2007, I sat with my mother in a tiny Thai food joint in Charlottesville, Va. The restaurant connected to the back of the late Satellite Ballroom, where Concord, N.C.’s The Avett Brothersscheduled to perform there that nightwere running through several tunes at […]
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Avetts look sharp, sound sloppy on Letterman
Them Concord boys sure do clean up nice, don’t they? As per usual, the Avett Brothers were dressed to the nines while making their big performance on last night’s episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, but their snazzy duds failed to cover up a snag in execution. Sure, I grinned like a proud […]
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Ryan Gustafson’s Donkey LP
Listen up! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. On his first full-length under his own name, Durham’s Ryan Gustafson eschews the grungy modern rock of Boxbomb, the quartet he fronted for six years until it split a month ago. Don’t eulogize too long: Now that Boxbomb’s run its […]
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The Love Language
Listen up! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. “I’m terrible about keeping up with music,” Stuart McLamb confesses while reclining in his computer chair, listening to a string of tracks he’s heard about but never heard himself. “I don’t have an iPod, and my CD player just got […]