hissing lawns

Hot Pink Interior, Crazy Bag Lady, Cusses, Forced Entry, Conquer/Devour, Black Tusk at Statts Fest – Photos

by Peterson Worrell • September 18, 2014

This being my first Statts Fest, I can say without a doubt that this event is one of the defining examples of solidarity in the Savannah music scene. I learned about the event that led to Statts Fest’s conception early on during my period of transition to a Savannah local, but actually attending the event was a totally different experience. To see an entire community rally around a common cause so fervently isn’t something that I wouldn’t expect from Savannah, but to actually see it in action and going off without a hitch is a completely different story. It was also really refreshing to so many of the acts appreciate the opportunity to help out with such an awesome cause.

There’s not much more that I can say that hasn’t already been said by Tom and Bill so I’ll stop with my gushing and get to the photos! Be sure to hit the jump for the full set.

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Black Tusk + Conquer/Devour at Statts Fest 2014 – photos

by bill • September 18, 2014

As Statts Fest entered its final hours on Saturday, the energy on the stage was still gathering force. I already posted some pics of Forced Entry and Crazy Bag Lady, and here are a few of Black Tusk (one of Savannah’s top bands, as you should know) and Conquer/Devour, whose members include Athon from Black Tusk and Dave Williams, who was shot at the same time as Jason Statts.

As usual, my apologies to the drummers.

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Statts Fest – more photos

by Tom Cartmel • September 16, 2014

There’s a huge black and white interior panoramic photograph of a heavy metal show on the wall at the Jinx. In the photo the focal point of the crowd is someone who looks to me to be Jason Statts. Maybe it’s not him (but I think it is), but he sure was the focus at the club Saturday night.

The first Statts Fest I went to was all about the music for me (FLOOR. Holy moly! FLOOR!). It’s not about that to me anymore. It’s about a vibrant community I have come to love rallying around a cause, a friend, one of us.

Let’s all try to remember to donate a little bit throughout the year when we can, and maybe help Keith Kozel too, if you can.

More hissing lawns coverage here, and more photos after the jump.

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Revival Fest Preview – Velvet Caravan

by JWaits • September 16, 2014

Continuing with our five question Revival Fest previews is a short Q & A with Jared Hall (keyboard/accordion) of Velvet Caravan, the city of Savannah’s one and only gypsy jazz band. The accompanying photos were shot by me (Jon Waits) at the band’s official CD release concert, and despite the black tie get-ups these musicians provided a great evening of music & laughter, in their usual manner. They may be a band that is well equipped for large events & fancy occasions, but at heart they are still performers that are able to laugh at themselves and have a great time onstage.

Velvet Caravan takes the third spot this Saturday afternoon, performing on the Do Savannah stage inside the old paint shops at the Georgia State Railroad Museum.

hl: What has Velvet Caravan been up to lately?

Jared Hall: All kinds of fun projects. We’ve been enjoying a great summer! Playing shows around Savannah and Tybee Island. We are now preparing and gearing up for an amazing Fall!

hl: How does the band feel about being included as one of just a few local acts in this year’s Revival Fest?

Jared Hall: Savannah is home to so many artists & musicians. Many of them whom we admire and respect. It’s truly an honor to be selected to play at Revival Fest.

hl: What can the audience look forward to in your performance?

Jared Hall: Our shows are eclectic, high energy, fun filled, and dance friendly! The musicianship is top notch and the toe tapping contagious!

hl: What does Velvet Caravan think about how they ‘fit in’ to Revival Fest?

Jared Hall: Our brand of Southern music is like a lowcountry boil. We like to throw a lot of different ingredients into the mix. The result is Velvet Caravan’s version of gypsy jazz; also referred to as European Redneck!

hl: What festivals, performances, and other opportunities to see and hear Velvet Caravan are in the near future?

Jared Hall: Upcoming performances for us include: Savannah Jazz Festival, The South Carolina Jazz Festival, The Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival, and a weekend at the Jazz Corner on Hilton Head, S.C. Please check out our website, www.velvetcaravan.com, for further details and information!

Forced Entry + Crazy Bag Lady at Statts Fest 2014 – photos

by bill • September 16, 2014

I’m still sorting through some photos from the excellent sets at Statts Fest at The Jinx on Saturday night. I included at least one shot of each act in a recap post, and I’ll be posting a bigger set of pics to the hissing lawns Facebook page. But I was happy enough with some of the shots that it seemed worth a couple more posts here — this one combines photos of two of Savannah’s most powerful young bands: hardcore act Forced Entry:

and punk rockers Crazy Bag Lady:

Not all young bands realize that playing a show means putting on a show. Forced Entry and Crazy Bag Lady definitely get it. Click for larger versions and click on through for more.

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Revival Fest: 14 bands from the South, a pig roast, craft beers, 35 local vendors & lots more on 9/20

by bill • September 15, 2014

The inaugural Revival Fest was one of the highlights of 2013 for the Savannah music scene, and 2014 is shaping up to be even better. We’ve already got one preview interview with Waits & Co. posted, and we’ll have a handful of other previews this week. Click here for all of our Revival Fest coverage.

This post contains lots of background info, but you might want to jump straight to the Revival Fest website.

Once again Revival Fest, organized by MusicFile Productions (also parent company of Savannah Stopover), will be held at the Georgia State Railroad Museum — if you’ve been around Savannah for awhile, you might just call it “the Roundhouse”. The festival uses an indoor and outdoor space at the old paint shops overlooking Boundary Street. It’s a spectacular setting for the southern roots-inspired and string music that will fill the day from noon till 11 p.m.

Three Savannah acts — Velvet Caravan, Waits & Co., and Sweet Thunder Strolling Band — will join a stellar list of touring acts, including headliners Futurebirds (which also has Savannah ties), David Wax Museum, Roadkill Ghost Choir, and Cedric Burnside, a master of Mississippi hill country blues and the only touring act to return from year one.

Cedric Burnside at the 2013 Revival Fest

Cedric Burnside will also be playing at the kickoff party on Friday night (9/19) in the courtyard at Pacci at The Brice. Click here for tickets — Friday night attendees must by tix by 9/18.

Pacci’s Roberto Leoci will also handle the pig roast at Saturday’s festival — $8 a plate.The Bayou Cafe will be serving hamburgers, hot dogs, and wraps.

Southbound, Red Hare, Moon River, and Service Brewing Company will also be on hand. Ampersand will be serving specialty cocktails. Click here for more details on the menu.

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Revival Fest Preview – Waits & Co.

by bill • September 15, 2014

Everyone at hissing lawns is getting excited for the upcoming Revival Fest, and we thought we’d give our readers a preview by asking several bands a series of questions and letting them answer as they saw fit.

Waits & Co. has the privilege of opening up the festivities by performing on the DoSavannah stage at one o’clock p.m., and is adding to their trio the talents of Stu Harmening (electric dobro) and Jeremy Hammons (drums & percussion) from The Trainwrecks. Stu and Jeremy occasionally sit in, and would be considered part-timers of the Waits & Co. family.

The following are five questions with the band, and photos by LeeAnn Ritch, Adriana Iris Boatwright, and Petee Worrell.

hl: What has Waits & Co. been up to lately?

Markus Kuhlmann: Playing a bunch of shows, and spreading the love one sweaty gig at a time. We’ve been lucky to perform with quite a few touring acts lately, as well as having a few out-of-town gigs ourselves. The crowds, venues, and response we’ve been getting have all gotten bigger & better. It’s a pretty exciting time for us!

hl: How does your band feel about being included as one of just a few local acts?

Markus Kuhlmann: Honored! There are so many great bands in Savannah these days, and to be one of the few locals asked to participate in such a cool event with this kind of an amazing lineup is pretty special.

hl: What can the audience look forward to in your performance?

Coy Campbell: We’re going to move the ball a lot. As a trio we often work the smaller rooms, allowing us ample format to pass musical ideas around as we perform. Over time we’ve developed that fabled subtle dialogue that really keeps us engaging on a cathartic, seat of your pants level that is both organic & authentic. We shoot to have fun from note one!

hl: What does Waits & Co. think about how they ‘fit in’ to Revival Fest?

Coy Campbell: Being on the home team, we take our role as hosts as seriously as the boogie-woogie part of our job. Savannah is fortunate enough to be blessed with a stellar, all Southern Revival Fest lineup this year, so we just want to knock it out of the park onstage, but also do our part to ensure a thoroughly party positive atmosphere for our fellow artists, local fans, and folks coming in from out of town. We are the Hostess City y’all! Jon Waits is talking about whipping up a batch of Pimento Spread…true story.

hl: What other festivals, performances, and opportunities to see & hear Waits & Co. are in the near future?

Jon Waits: We’re booked up through the remainder of this month with local gigs, and are working on Fall dates currently. We’d like to do a bit of traveling, and are also going into the studio soon to record our current lineup’s ‘best of’ tunes for an EP. The easiest way to keep up with us is by ‘liking’ our Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/Waitsco), and following us at www.reverbnation.com/waitsandco.

Statts Fest: building a community day by day, band by band – photos

by bill • September 15, 2014

If you don’t know the scoop on Statts Fest, start with a visit to Friends of Statts on the web and then go like the Facebook page. Saturday’s festival at The Jinx was a major fundraiser for Jason Statts, who was paralyzed in a shooting in 2008 and who continues to face some daunting medical challenges, not to mention expenses.

The annual gatherings have the primary intent of helping out Jason, but they have also become community touchstones for a broad cross-section of the Savannah music scene. Jason was on hand for much of the action on Saturday, and the crowd was spread out through the evening and deep into the night, peaking just before the end of the silent auction (at which I was lucky to win 8 screenprinted Baroness posters donated by John Dyer Baizley).

The short sets propelled the night’s action — an incredibly satisfying night of music, especially for those of us who stuck it out pretty much throughout. I took a couple of short breathers, but I got a good listen and a decent shot or two of all the Statts Fest performances except for a brief and unannounced set by Keith Kozel, who took the stage just before Bottles and Cans.

I’ll likely post a couple of full sets of acts where I got especially nice photos, but here’s a quick walk-through of Statts Fest 2014. And remember: even if you missed the big show Saturday, you still can donate anytime.

Bottles and Cans got things rolling with Ray Lundy’s wonderfully raspy and strong blues:

Next came City Hotel, a bluegrass-influenced string band that always inspires.

And then Devil At My Side — an act that I had regrettably never heard. It’s basically the players in Niche plus Tony Beasley/Whiskey Dick. Excellent southern rock — sure hope they play again soon.

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Statts Fest: you should go

by bill • September 12, 2014

First, here’s the vital info for the 5th Annual Statts Fest at The Jinx (127 West Congress St.) on Saturday, Sept. 13 here in Savannah:

Doors open at 4p, bands start at 5p.
Silent auction 4p-8p.
$20 at the door, cash or charge.

Performances by:
Bottles and Cans/5p
City Hotel/6p
Devil At My Side/7p
Hot Pink Interior/830p
Crazy Bag Lady/915p
Cusses/10p
Conquer/Devour/11p
Forced Entry/1145p
Black Tusk/1230a
The Savannah Sweet Tease Burlesque Revue/130a

If you know the Savannah music scene at all, you probably realize immediately how amazing that lineup is — some of the best of the city’s blues, bluegrass, rock & roll, punk, metal. And burlesque.

All of these fine performers across a variety of genres are gathering at The Jinx on Saturday to raise money for Jason Statts, who in 2008 was “shot point blank in the neck and suffered irreparable damage to his spinal column.” (Click here for more background at Friends of Statts.)

It was a senseless crime, but Jason and all those affected by the violence have since found meaning in it. These annual gatherings have become first and foremost a way to help Jason with medical expenses. They have also become important rallying points for the Savannah music community.

Folks are honored to be involved, and hissing lawns is honored to be among the event’s 20+ sponsors. I suspect our motley (I mean that in a nice way) team of photographers will be on hand off and on all day.

For more information, check out Decibel Magazine’s Strength Beyond Strength: The Jason Statts Story, ‘I try to stay positive. That’s the main thing. To stay positive.’ in Connect Savannah, and Statts Fest benefit returns with plenty of music in Do Savannah.

Please also note: there is a silent auction scheduled from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. According the Friends of Statts Facebook page, the items include:

“Artwork by Ashley Cox, Claw and Bone Artworks/Kelley Hagemes, Cherrybox Studios/Jessica Knapp, D3 Metal/Danielle Hughes Rose, Jen Young, John Baizley, Lost and Found Fine Art/Juliana Peloso, Marcus Dove, Kyle Sauter Design, Lorie Corbus, Stacie Albano, and Troy Wandzel.

“Items from Brooke Atwood, Caren McCarthy, Foxy Loxy Café, Glow MedSpa and Beauty Boutique, Gretsch Drums, Jack’s Western and Outdoor Wear, MusicFile Productions, Pinch of the Past Antiques, Renata Duran, PBR Vans, Savannah Sweet Tease, and Toni Caramagno.

“Gift certificates from B Street Salon, bar.food/coffee.deli, Black Orchid Tattoo, Captain Mike’s Dolphin Adventure, Coastal Heritage Society, Dragoncut Studio Salon, Ghost Town Tattoo, Gigi’s Cupcakes, Herb Creek Landscape Supply, Jen Marks Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, Kustom Hustle Tattoo Studio, Momentum Pilates, Renata Duran, Salon Aqua, Savannah Climbing Coop, Savannah Power Yoga, Service Brewing, Spa Bleu, Starland Café, The Gastonian, Unwind Yarn and Gifts, Vitality Acupuncture, and Well FED.”

Whirr, Cloakroom, Creepoid and Crazy Bag Lady at Graveface Records and Curiosities – photos

by Tom Cartmel • September 11, 2014

Whoa! What a great crowd and show last night at Graveface. Other than house shows, it’s pretty much the only option for an all ages show in Savannah. And, hold onto your hats here, people under the age of 21 apparently love great music, too. I mean, who knew, except for those of us who were once under 21?

It sure doesn’t hurt that Graveface (the label) has a great roster and list of contacts to pull interesting shows from either. Whirr just released an awesome album on Graveface, recently relocated to Savannah band Creepoid has released tunes on the label, Crazy Bag Lady’s vocalist works at the store, and Cloakroom, well, I don’t actually know how they fit into all of this, but whatever, they were amazing, too.

The record store/venue was fairly packed when I arrived, and Crazy Bag Lady was already in the midst of their set on the newly expanded stage. The band was super tight, fresh off recording their debut record for Retro Futurist, and the Graveface sound system sounded as good as I have ever heard it. We were off to a tremendous start to the evening.

Can we talk for a minute about what a fantastic addition to the Savannah music scene Creepoid is? Their heavy/shoegaze/experimental sound sits nicely between the old guard Savannah metal and the up and coming garage/pysch bands that are soooo good in the city right now. They had stopped in their new home base between tour outings and jumped on the bill at the last minute. They were super appreciative of the crowd, but we were the lucky ones. Very, very, very impressed.

After battling through the crowd to get their equipment on stage and set up, the trio that is Indiana’s Cloakroom played a great, grungey, heavy, down tempo set that reminded me of Hum at times, and was interesting at all times. Good stuff.

Whirr‘s set started with some technical issues, specifically drawing too many amps from a breaker box that had admirably stood up to a grueling evening to that point. The band tried playing in the pitch dark to lighten the electrical load to no avail. Power went out 4 times, except for a single faux flame lightbulb that somehow continued to flicker above the band, until finally a cord was run into the next building to spread the punishment to multiple breaker boxes. The band then was finally able to play their headlining set of hazy metallic shoegaze to the crowd that was packed up against the stage.

Bravo to everyone involved, it was a sweaty, loud, sublime evening of music.

Same deal as usual, a couple photos here, many more after the jump.

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Spotlight on Savannah – BreakThru Radio – NYC

by JWaits • September 11, 2014

Recently a variety of Savannah bands were asked to submit material for New York City’s BreakThru Radio . Quite a few of those that responded are regular names around the city & region, but there are also much less heard of projects as well.

Savannah often gets the reputation as a backwater Southern town (which it is to some degree), but it’s nice that we also are gaining a wider recognition as more than just a tourist stop in the Deep South. This program is long (almost 2 hours), and while we certainly encourage everyone to give a listen to the whole program listeners can also skip around to find the music that interests them the most. We have a vibrant, and creative music scene in this town and here is proof of that.

Click here to listen to the show (beware: autoplay, so program will start automatically).

Bands in the program include:

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fundraising underway for new kidney for Keith Kozel, frontman of GAM, Superhorse, more

by bill • September 11, 2014

Keith Kozel is a rock star, a father, and many other things — all wonderful. And it turns out that Keith has been facing some serious health problems for a while now. From the Givefoward page Keith Kozel’s Medical Fund: Keith Needs a Kidney!:

Keith Kozel is a longtime, beloved fixture on Savannah, Ga.’s arts, entertainment and culinary scenes.

As a singer and songwriter, he is known internationally as the energetic, charismatic frontman for alternative rock bands GAM, Superhorse, The Hall Monitor and the Foxedos. […]

Despite living an extremely healthy lifestyle all his life, for the past five years, Keith has suffered quietly with Type 2 MPGN, a degenerative kidney disease.

After more than 20 trips to both the esteemed Mayo Clinic and Emory Hospital, doctors are still unable to determine what caused this condition.

A debilitating stroke has left him with permanent vision impairment, and both of his kidneys are now in the final stages of failure.

Keith has recently been forced to leave his job of close to 25 years (as kitchen manager at Savannah’s famed downtown pizzeria Vinnie Van Go-Go’s) due to health reasons.

So let’s start ponying up some bucks. Both Tom and I got some fun shots of Keith on stage not so long ago, when Superhorse opened for The Woggles at The Jinx — a few here with more after the jump:

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