Listen to “Back When I Cared,” A New Track from John Howie Jr.’s Forthcoming Solo Record
For more than twenty years, John Howie Jr. has been a stalwart champion of twangy tunes, with the electrifying Two Dollar Pistols as well as on his own. In a few weeks, he’s got a new record to add to his respectable collection: Not Tonight, which comes out September 21. Now, you can listen to…
Gillian Welch to Receive the Thomas Wolfe Prize at UNC This Fall
For more than twenty years, singer-songwriter Gillian Welch has issued some of the most intimate, gorgeous songs of this generation. Her songwriting speaks to the unusual beauty and excruciating pain of the human condition, from the catastrophes and coincidences that fall on April 14, to a moonshiner’s ruinous career, to a girl being blessed with…
Mountain Man Has a New Album Out Next Month, Listen to Three Songs from Magic Ship Now
It’s been a while since we last heard from Mountain Man, the three-woman ensemble of Molly Sarlé, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Amelia Meath—eight years, in fact. The trio issued its gorgeous debut record, Made in the Harbor, in 2010, and after finishing touring around the record, the band’s members chased different projects (does Sylvan Esso ring…
Listen to Anne-Claire’s Slick New Single, “Behind Me”
At the end of 2017, singer-songwriter Anne-Claire Niver—better known as just Anne-Claire—ran a month-long Kickstarter campaign, raising money to fund the production of her second full-length album. She exceeded her $15,000 goal and set off to record the nine songs on her new album, I Still Look For You, which comes out next weekend. Today,…
Lauryn Hill’s Raleigh Show Canceled Due to “Unforseen Production Issues”
Heads up, Lauryn Hill fans: if you’d planned on seeing her in Raleigh tomorrow night, you’re in for a letdown. Her show at Red Hat Amphitheater, which was part of the twentieth anniversary tour for her landmark LP, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, has been canceled. LiveNation announced the show cancelation on Twitter yesterday evening,…
Spider Bags Ride Again with a New Record in August—Listen to Two Tracks Now
About halfway through the winding country-punk stomper “My Heart Is a Flame in Reverse,” which opens the B-side of Spider Bags’ forthcoming record, Someday Everything Will Be Fine, frontman Dan McGee hits on a pithy aphorism filled with beautiful and brutal truth. “To live is to suffer and smile,” he croaks, “and to succeed at…
Lilac Shadows Reappears with “True Ever After”
For the past few years, Lilac Shadows has cranked out plenty of excellent, shoegazey rock songs drenched in plenty of fuzz. The band released its most recent album, Brutalism, in early 2015, but following the 2016 presidential election, frontman Sam Logan says he struggled to find creative motivation amid what felt like a perpetual tsunami…
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Nile Rodgers & Chic, The Flaming Lips, Sleep, and More Added to Hopscotch
This afternoon, Hopscotch announced the second round of acts for this year’s festival, which happens from September 6-8 in downtown Raleigh. The biggest addition is, by far, Nile Rodgers & Chic. As a producer, Rodgers has worked with names from David Bowie to Daft Punk, and his mark on pop, funk, and disco is indelible.…
Removed from YouTube, The Muslims Take Their Protest Punk to Facebook Live
You need to see The Muslims’ excellent video to their ninety-second punk track “Muslims at the Mall.” After a closeup of someone’s hands squishing cheese through their fingers, Saba Taj wanders through Southpoint Mall, drawing stares in her “Alpha Delta Burqa,” a pink and green burqa made of Lilly Pulitzer fabric and cotton, glitter, gold…
Video: Midtown Dickens Reunites for a Good Cause in Durham
Midtown Dickens The Pinhook, Durham Friday, February 23, 2018 After five long years apart, Midtown Dickens reformed at The Pinhook in Durham to benefit the nonprofit organization Durham For All. In that hiatus, core band members Catherine Edgerton and Kym Register have pursued other creative projects—Register running Loamlands and running The Pinhook, Edgerton growing as…
Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Schoolboy Q, and a Top-Notch Top Dawg Crew Bring West Coast Flair to Raleigh
Saturday, May 26> Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, Raleigh 7:30 p.m., $35–$174, www.livenation.com Top Dawg Entertainment’s aptly titled Championship Tour, which stops in Raleigh this weekend, features a rare reunion of much of the label’s roster of contemporary hip-hop luminaries. Bringing their West Coast flair, the championship team includes Kendrick Lamar, SZA,…
Mary Lattimore’s Weightless Waves Are Unlike Anything Else
Saturday, May 26 The Artscenter, Carrboro 8 p.m., $15, www.artscenterlive.org It’s hard to make an elevator pitch for Mary Lattimore, a North Carolina-raised musician who now calls Los Angeles home. She plays the harp, but her music is unlike anything you might usually associate with the instrument, which she processes through effects pedals to sublime…
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