The Savannah hip hop label Dope Sandwich has just 3 days left on its Kickstarter campaign. Check out the video:
As I’ve noted here before, Dope Sandwich has been at the forefront of the Savannah hip hop scene for almost a decade. The funds raised via the campaign’s many reward levels will go toward the production of 3 albums planned for 2014.
In the final push to reach the Kickstarter goal, Dope Sandwich will be hosting a show on Thursday, 2/20 at the Tree House in City Market here in Savannah.
Good news today from the Savannah-based label Furious Hooves:
Furious Hooves has specialized in limited editions of high quality products, but the new Furhoof: Sixth Man division should give the label some room to grow.
Furious Hooves’ label showcase at Savannah Stopover is Saturday, March 8, from 2 to 7 p.m. at Congress Street Social Club, featuring mumbledust, Anteo, Blackrune, Bedroom, and Hallucinex.
Here’s a taste of Bedroom, the solo project of Noah Kittinger from Nashville:
While 2013 was a great year for music, it also saw some major break-ups too. One that hit hardest for me was Wild Flag, the mostly West Coast supergroup made up of 90’s indie rock all-stars Mary Timony (who’s actually a product of D.C.), Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, and Janet Weiss. The quartet first hooked up in 2010 and cranked out tracks that were a total throwback to the sound their original respective bands (Helium, Sleater-Kinney, and The Minders) forged back in the 90’s. Equal parts rowdy and melodic, the outfit officially called it quits last year after a long period of hiatus.
One good thing that’s come out of the breakup, besides the reformation of Sleater-Kinney, is Timony’s new project Ex Hex. While they’ve only officially put out one single so far, the 90’s rock influence is all too apparent in the new project. Timony supplies her airy yet hard hitting trademark vocals on top of instrumentals that are much more heavily influenced by classic rock and roll rather than her indie rock roots, although the indie influences is still fairly strong. Check out their single, Hot and Cold, below and be sure to catch their set Saturday night/Sunday morning at 12am over at Hang Fire!
https://soundcloud.com/mergerecords/ex-hex-hot-and-cold/
Photo courtesy of Merge Records
Tybee Island Social Club has increasingly become a hub for Savannah-area musicians, especially during the Bluegrass Brunch on Sundays.
Here are a few shots by Jon Waits of JWaitsPhoto of the performance earlier today by Paving Gravy, with Zach and Colleen from The Accomplices and Cory from City Hotel. Eric Dunn (of The Train Wrecks and Velvet Caravan) can also be seen here.
The page for purchasing tickets to “An Intimate Evening with Art Garfunkel” includes an interesting note asking attendees not to report details of the event or review the performance for any commercial media outlet.
So I’m not going to write a review or elaborate on anything. Let me just say that the full house last night at Dollhouse Productions seemed absolutely thrilled before, during, and after the show. (By the way, I wasn’t there as a writer or photographer but as a friend and guest of Bobby Zarem, who himself is an old friend of Garfunkel’s.)
Tonight’s show is now sold out, according to the ticket page, but if you’re still hoping to attend, you might want to give Dollhouse a call at 917.582.1903. Given the fact that the venue is using temporary seating and given the simple reality that there are always some no-shows, and given the fact that some tickets might have been reserved for guests under 21 who will not be permitted into the 21+ venue, there could be some seats available at the last minute. Highly recommended.
Got an email from Spoleto USA in Charleston a few minutes ago that reads in part:
Thank you for placing an order that included tickets to see Laurie Anderson’s The Language of the Future. We are sorry to report that due to unforeseen circumstances, this performance will no longer be a part of the 2014 Festival season. No alternate program has been scheduled.
Current ticket holders are eligible to exchange their tickets for another performance or receive a full refund. Please contact the box office at 843.579.3100 to discuss your options. We apologize for any inconvenience.
I had two front row seats for the third and final performance of The Language of the Future, on Saturday, June 7.
And I can’t help being a little irritated by Spoleto’s management. A quick search revealed the cancellation even appeared in the NYT on 2/10, but ticket holders are only today being notified — and so close to the end of the business day on a Friday that there’s little time to consider alternate plans before calling the box office. There’s no mention of the cancellation on Spoleto’s blog either. [Update: Anderson’s Moogfest appearance has also been canceled. A March date in Dallas has been rescheduled for October.]
For the heck of it, here’s “Superman” from way back in the day:
So, I was reading Elle the other day and…..errrr, wait, I mean, I was reading some super obscure music blog the other day (actually it was Stereogum) and ran across a link to an article in Elle featuring Meredith Graves, the lead singer of Perfect Pussy. Their show at Hang Fire earlier this year was one of the more talked about gigs so far this year and they have their debut full length, Say Yes to Love, headed our way next month.
Anyway, if you’re not too punk to read about chamomile floral water and rose scented soap, the “tour diary” (it’s nothing of the sort) is kind of interesting, with Graves describing some of the issues that come with being the only female in a five piece touring noise punk band. My favorite quote: “…I sort of dress like Mia Farrow attempting to go undercover at a Boy Scouts meeting.” Read it here, if you think your street cred can take the hit. Bonus points if you click on the “See Also” links at the bottom of the page, which include keywords “punk band”, “metal music” and “black metal”. Seriously.
We’ve already posted some great photos by Jon Waits of Velvet Caravan‘s performance at Trinity United Methodist Church for the release of Acoustic in Nature. The show was part of the new series “Trinity Sanctuary Concerts.”
I had my camera that night too, although I had the wrong lens for the conditions, I think, and need to rethink my whole strategy if I’m going to shoot music at Trinity again. But I got a few shots worth sharing. Here’s one, more after the jump.
Hi guys,
Well, as usual, it was another exciting weekend downtown. The Marin Sexton show at the Wormhole on Wednesday was a very enjoyable show. He has a great voice (I was told 5 octave range, whatever that means) and was really a fascinating singer. His fans are a very respectful group and were definitely there to listen to the show. I hope he comes back to Savannah soon, I will be sure to catch him the next time through. Friday’s Beatles Celebration at the American Legion was a complete success. Hats off to Tom, Colleen, Jim, Roy, and, I am sure, many others for a job well-done. Sadly, I missed the beginning of the show, but I really enjoyed everything I saw. Even when one of the bands showed up (slightly) late, the show continued to flow well. I would also like to congratulate the members of GAM for their excellent choices of Beatles covers (I’m Down, Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey, Revolution #9 (!), and Wild Honey Pie). I hope many of you stayed for the surprise finale from Skip Jennings, Skip Hinely, Keith Kozel, and Ricardo Ochoa, it was great fun. Here’s hoping for the Rolling Stones Ed Sullivan Anniversary Show I saw suggested earlier!
On to the suggestions for this week. Looks like it’s another busy weekend.
Thursday 2/13
Eric Culberson – Bayou Café – Blues at one of my favorite blues bars around.
Iron Regan (hardcore punk metal), Crazy Bag Lady (fracas) – Jinx
Friday 2/14 (when and why did Valentine’s Day become such a good music night?)
COEDS (ruckus & roll), Southern Femisphere (punk rock), Rubrics (punk rock) – Graveface Records (7p)
City Hotel (bluegrass) – Dub’s (8p)
Hypnotics (60’s garage rock) – Molly MacPherson’s (10p) – One of my favorite party bands at a great pub.
Lovely Locks, Savannah Sweet Tease Burlesque Revue – Jinx (10p) – What could be better than spending Valentine’s Day with Anna, Crystina, and Britt?
Saturday 2/15
Savannah Bazaar – Southern Pines Co. (1p-6:30) then Wormhole (7p-2a) – (The Lifers, Omingnome, Crazy Bag Lady, Dope Sandwich, KidSyc, Shapes and Their Names, Baked Alaska, Beneath Trees, Eric Culberson, Faeryteeth, Elephant Fire) – I haven’t seen a schedule for this yet, but there are several good bands listed.
Beatles v Stones (2014 Savannah Book Festival) – Lutheran Church of the Ascension Fellowship Hall on Wright Square (2:45) – Author John McMillian will speak on his Beatles v Stones book. I know who I am voting for.
Waits & Co – Blowin Smoke – I am glad to see music back at the Smoke. I always enjoy seeing Jon, Markus and Coy playing their Americana music.
Jucifer – Jinx (10p) – Blackened Doom/Sludge/Deathdrone/Grindgaze/Brutal Folk. I may feel like getting my ears melted off tonight.
Accomplices – Doc’s Bar on Tybee (9p) – The Accomplices will be celebrating St. Practice Day at Doc’s. Not sure if I can make it out there, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the Tybee area this Saturday. And, you never know, I may see you out there.
Monday 2/17
Full Of Hell (grinding death in the form of hardcore punk), Mutilation Rites (black/doom/crust metal) – Jinx – I probably won’t make it to the Jinx this night, because my ears will still be ringing from Jucifer on Saturday.
Tuesday 2/1
England In 1819, Grimey, Sunglow – Hang Fire – England in 1819 has a French horn. That is enough to interest me.
AcousticA – Jazz’d – I hope to make it over to Jazz’d to catch Ray and Mike from Bottles & Cans doing their blues thing.
The old saying goes better late than never right? The Jinx kicked off February with a bang bringing a few of Savannah’s favorite locals in to rock Savannah to its core. First up cam Bear Fight! with their trademark southern influenced metal sound. Sitting somewhere between sludge metal and stoner metal, Bear Fight! is definitely one of the most interesting bands on the metal scene in Savannah currently. Following Bear Fight! came Greensboro’s Bronzed Chorus. The best way of describing their sound is pedal/effects heavy garage rock with some killer drum fills. The duo very much mimics Japandroids not only in band composition, but also in their intensity and overall sound. Rounding out the night was CUSSES. If you aren’t familiar with CUSSES, odds are you’re new to Savannah and that’s okay! Even if you’re new, you can’t go too long without being exposed to their raucous rock sound and energetic shows.
Check out a few shots below and be sure to hit the jump for the full set!
If you’re a regular frequenter of this blog (as any music enthusiast in Savannah should be!), you’re likely well aware that the 2014 Savannah Stopover is quickly approaching. I hope that, like many of us here at hissing lawns, you’ve already begun to plan out how you’ll spend the three days and who are your own personal “must see” bands of this year. If you haven’t, I’d highly recommend using the Scheduling function on the official Stopover page, it’ll make keeping track of all of the artists and their set times much easier. In order to help you get the most out of your Stopover experience, we’ll be bringing frequent spotlights on some of our favorite artists at the festival this year.
First up on my own personal list of bands not to be missed is Tweens. While the Midwest is usually known for turning out some great punk and pop-punk bands, Cincinnati’s Tweens is a beast of a different nature. Tweens is very much the band that your little sister managed to get together in high school. That is of course assuming that your little sister’s high school band turned out some great garage rock jams that sported a hefty dose of doo-wop, punk, and pop influence. Equally catchy and thrashy, “Be Mean”, Tweens’ single off of their upcoming, self-titled, debut album, is an instant classic in my book. They’ve coined the description of “trash-pop” for themselves and the phrase seems to fit the bill perfectly for the trio.
Be sure to catch Tweens at 5pm on March 7th at Hang Fire during Stopover this year and stay tuned for more highlights of the festival!
The Savannah music scene is known nationally for heavy metal, but neither band at the well attended show Friday night fits neatly into any of the seemingly endless metal genres. It was the first time I was seeing Forced Entry (I missed them opening for Conquer/Devour and wimped out on the Sunday night Priests show after a three show weekend), but I came away really impressed. They sound like a first generation hardcore punk band, in the vein of Negative Approach, Minor Threat and early Black Flag. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again and seeing how their sound progresses. Unfortunately I didn’t get many pictures I liked of their very entertaining set.
DEAD YET?‘s set was a little bittersweet, as their future is vague at this point. It was a release party for their excellent new record An Uncertain Decay, but the band has no plans for the immediate future, and guitarist/co-vocalist Chris “Scary” Adams has moved out of the area. If Friday night ends up being their last show, they definitely went out on a high note, playing their metallic hardcore with a palpable energy and sounding as clean as I’ve ever heard them sound live. Fittingly the members of Black Tusk joined them on stage to finish out the night. The band will be missed but let’s call it a hiatus and hope to see them in the future.
Friday night’s door proceeds went to help Jason Statts and it was nice to see the man himself out and about. Jinx regulars were also out in full force. Very cool on the part of everyone involved. (Check out Jason’s website, www.friendsofstatts.com, or this piece at Decibel Mag for background.)
