March 26 was the first live Local Beat I had been able to do in a month because of NC State Baseball broadcasts and Durham rock/pop singer Brett Harris dropped by for what turned out to be one of my favorite interviews in a long while as we talked about his brand new album Man of Few Words, an LP that could possibly break my top 10 for the year. We talked in depth about the recording of the album, the multitude of artists that assisted him in recording, and compared everything to his past couple...
Apr 25, 2010•32 min•Ep. 21
So So Def’s newest artist R&B singing sensation Dondria was a recent guest on “Saturday Night Soul and R&B”.In the compelling interview, Dondria discusses her rise to fame via youtube, her new albumDondria Vs. Phatfffat, new single “You’re The One”, her love for Chipotle and much more.
Apr 21, 2010•17 min•Ep. 410
Orquesta GarDel was a newcomer to my music pallet. Based in strong Latino roots, GarDel plays classic and modern salsa music with a sound heavily influenced by the New York-Puerto Rico connection of the 1970s. Eric Hirsh, Beast’s keyboardist, is also a major part of GarDel, which has ultimately led to some interesting collaboration in the past.
Apr 17, 2010•4 min•Ep. 118
WKNC's Special K (second from left) interviews The Beast.
Apr 17, 2010•6 min•Ep. 350
This week I sat down for yet another Local Beat Mini Exclusive as there will once again be no normally scheduled Local Beat (due to baseball programming). Rob Koegler and Jason Kutchma came in to chat about a really interesting and unique concert happening this Friday evening at the ETC Auditorium of the North Carolina School of Science and Math titled “Deliver Me From Nowhere- A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.” A collaboration of different musicians from Red Collar, Midtown Dickens, CO...
Apr 15, 2010•24 min•Ep. 375
Inflowential stopped into the WKNC studio last Friday to talk about their upcoming show at Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, their first LP (on the way…), an imminent move, and to thank everyone they’ve ever met. DJ Kligz and I had a grand time chatting it up with them and spinning some of their music, so have a listen.
Apr 12, 2010•32 min•Ep. 363
Last night on “Saturday Night Soul and R&B”, I had the pleasure of speaking with Chilli of the Grammy award winning, legendary and iconic R&B trio, TLC. In the revealing interview, we discussed her new reality show, “What Chilli Wants,” her relationship with ex-flame R&B singer Usher, her love for Michael Jackson and so much more.
Apr 11, 2010•23 min•Ep. 411
Drughorse One EP cover Carter Gaj of Max Indian and Tom Simpson of the Light Pines came in to chat with me about this new six-song EP as well as the Drughorse “Cartel.” The guys played four covers of songs by 4 different Drughorse associated bands, which are free to download at the Local Beat ReverbNation page and you can listen to them to the right in the music player. Album artwork, the recording of the EP, and details to certain songs were all topics of conversation. I also spent a great deal...
Mar 26, 2010•29 min•Ep. 377
Our very own Laurie Lu (host of the Rockabilly Hour, Sundays 2-4pm) got on the horn for an interview this past week with the legendary Dex Romweber of the Dex Romweber Duo (formerly of the Flat Duo Jets). The Duo will be embarking on a European tour in April, and are playing The Pour House in Raleigh this Saturday, March 13th. Enjoy!
Mar 12, 2010•6 min•Ep. 412
The Kickin Grass Band joined me for the last hour of the show to promote some of their upcoming shows and play some live tunes. Our conversation ranged anywhere from organic farming, to Lynda’s songwriting, and back to eating cats. It was definitely an interesting hour. All songs they played live are available for free download on the Local Beat ReverbNation page and you can listen to them in the music player to the right.
Mar 03, 2010•33 min•Ep. 415
At 6 p.m. Wendy Spitzer came in to promote her debut full length album from Felix Obelix, A Tick of the Clock, A Beat in the Chest, which was released at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill Saturday night. The concert featured The Strugglers and a really interesting writing activity in which you write a letter to yourself eight months from now. That led to interesting conversation about her past projects that include a Time Capsule as well as a “Biggest Regret/ Best Decision” project from last year. W...
Mar 03, 2010•31 min•Ep. 414
Traffic on I-40 was terrible as Chapel Hill group Feeding the Fire got caught up and came in 25 minutes late. However, when they finally did arrive we had a lot to talk about since they are releasing their first full length album since becoming a band back in 2003, titled DisInfoNation. We talked about the writing and recording of the album, as well as the operation of their own record label, Own Life Records, and the album artwork of DisInfoNation. The album release party is this Thursday eveni...
Mar 03, 2010•14 min•Ep. 413
This morning I had Chapel Hill band Blag'ard come join me for a Local Beat Mini Exclusive to chat about their brand new album Mach II which is being released tonight at the Reservoir in Chapel Hill and at the Dive Bar tomorrow night in Raleigh. The show tonight will feature a magic and burlesque show with Rosie Hellfire and Reverend Spider with Michael Rank and Marc Smith doing an acoustic opening. There will also be free vegetarian chili to warm your bones. The show at the Dive Bar is featuring...
Feb 26, 2010•22 min•Ep. 416
Let’s not forget the 2/11 Local Beer, Local Band show at Tir Na Nog that featured Bright Young Things with support from Luego and Naked Gods (straight outta Boone). And let’s not forget the three interviews in one hour preceding that show. That’s right, I shuffled all three of these bands in and out of the studio. Better yet, Bright Young Things played a Jayhawks-inspired version of their own “She Left You Dreaming.” Luego followed with Patrick’s solo version of “Run Away” that will be on their ...
Feb 22, 2010•24 min•Ep. 417
Three members of Wembley came in at 6 p.m. to chat with me about their newest release, Keywords for Robots EP, which the band put out late in 2009. I got a little upset with them for not promoting the album and sending it to me, all in good gesture of course. The band members provided an insightful view into their lives as hobby-only musicians and I had a lot of fun sitting down with them for the hour.
Feb 17, 2010•34 min•Ep. 211
Reid Johnson from Schooner came in at 5 p.m. to talk about the band’s brand new release, the Duck Kee Sessions EP. All proceeds from the album go to benefit CyTunes.org which in effect goes to benefit cancer research. CyTunes is the only place where you can download the album. In addition to the CyTunes we talked about the release show for the EP this Friday at the Pinhook in Durham. Veelee, the Erie Choir, and the Popular Kids are also performing. This release show is unique in that instead of ...
Feb 17, 2010•31 min•Ep. 212
I had two members each of Annuals, Bright Young Things, and Gray Young to come in and talk about their show this Friday night in downtown Raleigh at the Pour House. The fellas were a little shy and all seven of us had to share four microphones, but we did manage to play brand new songs by all of the bands, including the entire brand new EPs by both Annuals and Bright Young Things while chatting about the recording process.
Feb 17, 2010•12 min•Ep. 213
Yesterday on the Local Beat, we were filled to capacity for our three hour show (a recap with interviews coming soon) and so I had to exclude one of the coolest shows next week, the Love Hangover, which is happening at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh once more. However, because The Love Hangover is just this cool I decided to do a watered down, short version of the Local Beat, for podcast only. Caitlin Cary and Matt Douglas came in to play some tunes and chat while we got the creat...
Feb 13, 2010•21 min•Ep. 444
Last week on the Local Beat was a lot of fun, as we had two bands in the studio for 2.5 hours of good conversation. Maria Albani, bass player of Schooner, came in to chat about her new solo project Organos at 5 p.m which is having a debut album release for the brand new EP, Limbs, this Friday at the Pinhook in Durham (it is already getting airplay on Satellite Radio). Organos is an interesting band in which Maria plays an assortment of unorthodox instruments such as spoons, glass, cardboard, box...
Feb 05, 2010•35 min•Ep. 445
Lake Inferior chats with Adam Kincaid about Redress Raleigh and their new EP Pegasaur.
Jan 15, 2010•30 min•Ep. 383
Recently I got the chance to interview Tim Deaux of The Whigs. The Whigs are currently touring the east coast, with upcoming show at the Local 506. We talked about upcoming release of the band’s third full length album, “In the Dark,” and we discussed the process behind the creation of the upcoming album. This is Tim’s first full length album that he has recorded with the band, and since the release of their previous album “Mission Control” he has taken the role as the band’s full time bassist. ...
Dec 15, 2009•9 min•Ep. 418
DJ Ones (left) with Reid Johnson from Schooner in the WKNC studio
Nov 04, 2009•27 min•Ep. 419
It’s been quite a few weeks in coming, but Sweet Annie Rich has finally gotten her act together and cut the audio of her interview with Corb Lund on October 3. Corb provided quite the interview with a lot of his back story and put on an entertaining show later that night at the Berkeley Cafe.
Oct 22, 2009•10 min•Ep. 387
Four weeks ago, if you were to ask me if I would be posting an interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis a day after watching the Monday night performance from the newly formed Telekinesis lineup at Tir Na Nog, I would have said, “Well, maybe.” I’ve learned to never eliminate fanciful ideas from the list of maybes. A day after Michael Lerner arrived in Raleigh from Seattle, we snagged him for an interview in our WKNC studio. He is a young musician who has found love for music in his journey a...
Sep 15, 2009•21 min•Ep. 420
Adam Kincaid is joined by Matt and Ginger of Chapel Hill band Veelee.
Sep 02, 2009•36 min•Ep. 384
Go ahead, pull out the wooden ruler and lay down a good whack across the top of my hands. I’ve been a bad WKNC blogger. If I was being graded on timeliness, there would be a big red “F” at the top of this blog, but, thankfully, you as a blog-reader & lover of WKNC would never employ such emotional damage like that of my former college professors, right?
Jun 19, 2009•24 min•Ep. 421
DJ Mikey (who moonlights as DJ Wobble Wobble) chatted with Brian of Lonnie Walker about their new album, These Times Old Times (out on Terpsikhore Records), as well as their CD Release Show/Party. As you have probably heard, they played at Schoolkids Records on Hillsborough Street and then moved to Adam Peele ’s warehouse for another show and a party late night. Check out what they had to say about the album, the label, touring, and songwriting.
Jun 05, 2009•11 min•Ep. 424
DJ Cioffi took his first spin at manning the Local Beat to interview long-time local band Pivot, who is playing at the Brewery this Friday, June 5th. They had quite a bit to say about their new album and so forth, as is evident below.
Jun 05, 2009•20 min•Ep. 423
At 5:00, rock orchestra Easy Company joined us to talk a little about who they are, what influences them, and what to expect at their show Saturday, June 6, at the Halle Cultural Arts Theatre in Apex, NC. They also performed (as a mere 9-piece) 2 songs in the studio.
Jun 05, 2009•20 min•Ep. 422
Then at 6:00, Liza Kate and Jenks Miller (Mount Moriah, In the Year of the Pig, un deux trois, Horseback) of Holidays for Quince Records joined us. Liza had her release show that night for her new album, Don’t Let the Dogs. We chatted a bit about the label and the weekend-long Holidays for Quince block party, and she was kind enough to play a few songs in studio for us.
Jun 04, 2009•14 min•Ep. 426
