hissing lawns

Savannah Music Festival announces 2016 season lineup

by bill • November 4, 2015

The Savannah Music Festival‘s new website went live just a few moments ago, and of course that also means the 2016 lineup has now been made public. (Keep in mind that some rock and pop acts are typically added closer to the 17 day event in March and April.)

UPDATE: Check out the SMF’s 2016 digital brochure (just click on it to enlarge):

Some shows of note for readers of this site:

3/25: the flamboyant Cameron Carpenter brings his touring organ to the Lucas — wow, not to be missed, seriously
3/26: Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré at Trustees
3/26: Pink Martini featuring China Forbes at the Lucas
3/30: Ry Cooder, Sharon White, Ricky Skaggs at the Lucas
3/31: Dwight Yoakam at Johnny Mercer Theatre
4/1: The Suffers and Langhorne Slim at the Ships of the Sea North Garden
4/2: Kora master Ballake Sissoko at the Morris Center
4/2: North Mississippi Allstars and Charlie Musselwhite at the Ships of the Sea North Garden
4/3: Del McCoury and David Grisman at the Lucas
4/6: Hungarian tamburitza band Söndörgő at the Morris Center
4/6: The Time Jumpers featuring Vince Gill, Kenny Sears and Ranger Doug Green at the Lucas
4/7: Dr. John & The Nite Trippers at the Lucas
4/9: Balkan brass bands Fanfare Ciocârlia and Boban Markovic close out the festival at the Ships of the Sea North Garden

I have left out lots of stuff, obviously, including tons of jazz and classical, in addition to other Americana acts.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on 11/5.

The FEST 14 Day 1 – photos

by Tom Cartmel • November 4, 2015

I’ll get right into it. I had a blast at FEST 13, the 2014, PBR fueled, punk rock centric, Gainesville FL institution of a music festival. Why wouldn’t I return for FEST 14? A weak liver? No. Maturing taste in music? Obviously not. Not wanting to wade through a schedule of over 400 bands ranging from folk punk to hardcore? Umm, hell no. Not wanting to mingle with like minded music fans who are not afraid of crowd surfing and gang vocals? To Gainesville, I say!

We waited in the registration line for over 3 hours last year, so every effort was made to get there earlier this year, and as a result we got there at pretty much the same time as last year to find ABSOLUTELY NO FREAKING LINE. As in, we walked directly up to the desk and registered. Did they figure out a different system? Was last year a fluke? No clue, no complaints. We milled around the punk rock flea market a bit (sorry, I love vinyl, but I’m not carrying it around all day. Thanks for the stickers and coozies, though), and then headed upstairs for the pool party where unironic (I think) Blink 182 covers were being enjoyed. Those were some patient lifeguards, let me tell you.

I’d been curious about why a band would call themselves Wolf Face, so we made out way to the High Dive. Really fun set by some hirsute dudes (FEST is kinda known for bearded punks), still not sure about the name thing, though.

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Thursday Night Opry | Fall Edition – preview

by JWaits • November 3, 2015

On November 19th at 7pm the doors of Trinity Sanctuary Concerts will open again for the Fall Edition of their quarterly Thursday Night Opry. The Facebook event invite can be found here: Thursday Night Opry | Fall Edition

Thursday Night Opry | Fall Edition

Opening act String Magnolia is a new collaborative project featuring members of City Hotel, New Arts Ensembles, as well as a few relative newcomers to the regular Savannah live music ‘scene’.

String Magnolia

Next up will be Georgia Mountain Stringband who have become semi-regular Savannah performers, though hailing from the Atlanta area. We recently featured a video of them from ArtLab Sessions.

Georgia Mountain Stringband

The headliner for this Opry installment is none other than Ramsay Midwood out of Austin, Texas. Check out this article in The Daily Times for a bit more description, and make sure to watch the following videos.

Larry Jack’s Magical Music Tour – 10/29/15 – 11/3/15

by Larry Jack Sammons • October 28, 2015

Hey guys,
Well, we are heading up to one of my favorite holidays of the year, Halloween. We have a really music-filled weekend ahead, with multiple choices of shows almost every night. Thursday night has one of my favorite funk bands, Funk You at Barrelhouse and another exciting band, Viva Le Vox, next-door at the Jinx. Friday has one of my favorite events of the season, the Jinx-O-Ween show, with local performers covering legendary acts. It is also one of the few nights of the year that the Jinx starts music early (9 pm). If you would rather try something different, I would recommend the Dollhouse show, followed by the funk band at Barrelhouse South. Saturday is another busy night, with a blues show at Dollhouse, one of my favorites bands (the Hypnotics) at Molly’s, and the legendary GAM at the Jinx. As you can see, there are far too many choices every night this weekend, so just go wherever your heart (and ears) take you. And if you head out this weekend, be sure to dress up like a goblin and don’t run over any trick-or-treaters.

Thursday 29th
Jason Bible (Train Wrecks frontman) – Molly MacPherson’s
Viva Le Vox (FL 2-man rock), AM Rodriguez (Sav’h alt-country) – Jinx ($7)
Eric Culberson Band (Sav’h blues) – Bayou Cafe
Kota Mundi (Sav’h reggae-rock), Funk You (Augusta funk-rock) – Barrelhouse South

Friday 30th
July Talk (Canadian alt-rock), Little Hurricane (CA blues-rock), Breakers (Sav’h 80’s rock) – Dollhouse Studios ($10/15)
Charlie Fog Band (Sav’h Grateful Dead covers) – Molly MacPherson’s
Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band (NC funk), Orange Constant (Statesboro jam rock) – Barrelhouse South
Jinx-O-Ween Cover Band Night – Jinx (9p, $10)

Saturday 31st
GAM, Blood Wrestling – Jinx ($10)
Hypnotics (Sav’h 60’s garage rock) – Molly MacPherson’s
Mustard, Heavy Pets (FL rock) – Barrelhouse South

Monday 2nd
Joe McMahon, Ducking Punches (folk-punk from UK), Empty Lungs (Belfast punk rock), Billy Liar (Scotland acoustic punk) – Jinx ($10)

Tuesday 3rd
Nick Dittmeier (IN rock) – Foxy Loxy Cafe (7p)

Night of the Living Shred at The Wormhole – photos

by Tom Cartmel • October 27, 2015

How am I NOT going to go to an event named “Night of the Living Shred”?? A Dad Joke production, it featured The Gumps, Twisty Cats, Greta O and The Toxic Shock, and The Ghost Ease, a Portland (OR, not ME, we went over this) band on the legendary record label K Records.

Great sets all around, smoke machine, lights galore, and one weird ass, trippy, costume contest. After eliminating Juggalettes, War Boys, Jake the Dog and others, it came down to The Toxic Avenger, General Oglethorpe, post fame Kurt Cobain and a hilarious Daniel Lynch costume that was kinda genius. In the end though, General Oglethorpe pulled through, even though he was apparently appalled at the depths that his fine city had stooped to. Cobain didn’t seem to give a shit. Fair enough, really.

Check out pics, you know the deal.

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Graveface Records & Curiosities 4th Anniversary Party – photos

by Tom Cartmel • October 25, 2015

Have you ever been to an event that was so weird and cool it seems like something out of a movie? And if you were watching that movie, you might think “C’mon, shit like that doesn’t really happen”? Well, the ever singular Graveface Enterprises/Empire came pretty close to achieving just that at the Graveface Records & Curiousities 4th Anniversary Party. I arrived in the Starland District much later than I had planned, the sun was already down and several of the vendors were starting to pack up/lose interest/drink, but the alley beside the record store was still bustling with scenesters, record/tape labels, tarot readers, and maybe more than a few locals wondering just what in the hell was going on.

I still had plenty of time to blow some cash in the store (Unwound box set, Shellac’s Excellent Italian Greyhound, and a serious steal on a John Vanderslice record that I LOVE), check out the weird taxidermy, and catch sets from Graveface Records artists Hospital Ships and Des Ark, the final two acts of the lineup performing “quiet(ish) sets” at the super cool former Starland Dairy. Both acts impressed me and are definitely worth checking out further.

Graveface has become integral to the Savannah scene over the course of the last 4 years, supplying us with records, some super rad shows, employing local musicians and tastemakers, and somehow pulling off impossibly cool events like this. Here’s hoping Graveface and their various endeavors thrive in Savannah and beyond for a long time to come.

Unsurprisingly everything was super dark (as cool things tend to be), bar the stage, which left me with pretty samey pics for the most part, but hey, here’s what I got. Check it out.

Hospital Ships

Des Ark

Barb Wire Dolls, COEDS and The Anxiety Junkies at The Jinx – photos

by Tom Cartmel • October 25, 2015

Ahh, yes, the good old school night concert. Whatever, it’s just sleep, there’s plenty of boring nights to catch up on sleep. Lots of people apparently had the same thought as me Wednesday night (or maybe just nothing going on in the morning, which to be honest, sounds awesome), as there was already a strong crowd at The Jinx when I got there at 10:30 to catch a great night of local talent and a touring headliner worth losing sleep over.

The Anxiety Junkies were a couple songs into their set as I walked through the door, and even from the back of the room I could tell they’d really come together since I had seen them last. Speedy, old school punk rock with an animated, energetic front man. I loved it, as did Pyn, the guitarist of Barb Wire Dolls, who had really nice things to say about them in a conversation I had with him prior to the COEDS’ set.

To the surprise of exactly no one who has seen COEDS before, their performance was also great. It did, however, impress those who had not experienced their high energy, classic alternative, uber cool, and just-plain-fun tunes before. In what might have been a first(?), there was a COEDS mosh pit! Okay, I get it, kinda. If you’re even a short time reader of hissing lawns you’ve read us gushing about COEDS before, and I don’t really see that changing anytime soon. Check out their new seasonally appropriate video, too, it’s a blast.

Barb Wire Dolls‘ metal tinged melodic punk was as cool as the band themselves look, which is to say pretty freaking cool. It was kind of hard to not take some pretty good photos as the band definitely knew how to work a room. Isis Queen engaged the crowd from the time she took the stage, climbing the bar, the drum set, singing in the faces of the fans in the front row, performing in the crowd, etc.. The songs were solid and the band was tight to top it all off.

Totally worth missing a little shut eye. Check out the pics below.

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“Do The Beast Stomp” with COEDS + Savannah Sweet Tease Burlesque in awesome new video

by bill • October 23, 2015

We’ve been raving about COEDS here at hissing lawns for ages, and here’s a taste of why:

No, we can’t guarantee go-go dancers at every COEDS show (although Jeremiah is always on stage), and we can’t guarantee a dowdy audience like the one applauding at the end, but this new video for “Do The Beast Stomp” captures the raw energy of the band’s live shows.

“Do The Beast Stomp” was shot at Dollhouse Productions with the support of The Savannah Sweet Tease Burlesque Revue.

Click on through for a small photo gallery of COEDS shots that we’ve previously posted here:

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The Accomplices EP release with Dangermuffin at the Roundhouse – photos

by bill • October 22, 2015

Wow, what a night last weekend with The Accomplices at the Roundhouse at the Georgia State Railroad Museum here in Savannah.

Hundreds of fans turned out for the release party of The Accomplices’ new EP Mountain Buzz, a gorgeous 5-song CD that showcases the quartet at their best — well-constructed songs, compelling lyrics, beautiful harmonies.

Or maybe The Accomplices, a self-described “lowcountry string band,” are even better in front of a crowd. With Matt Eckstine on guitar, Zach Smith on upright bass, Colleen Heine on fiddle, Stan Ray on drums, and everyone on vocals, the band seems right at home on stages both small and large — and it’s easy to imagine that one day soon they’ll routinely be playing to crowds far bigger than Friday’s.

I was especially moved by the performance of the new song “Lean on the Wind” on which Colleen takes lead vocals. The song reminded me of the best work of Nanci Griffith, and I wouldn’t be surprised if such a memorable song helped carry The Accomplices to the next level as a touring act increasingly in demand for festivals.

The excellent Americana trio Dangermuffin came down from South Carolina to open Friday’s show, which also featured food from Tybee Island Social Club.

I took some photos — more after the jump:

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Larry Jack’s Magical Music Tour – 10/21/15 – 10/28/15

by Larry Jack Sammons • October 21, 2015

Hey guys,
I see that we are expecting great weather this weekend and it looks like a good weekend for music, so no real reason not to head out sometime. It looks like the biggest show this week could be the Jonathan Richman show at the Wormhole this Wednesday. If you don’t recognize his name, he is the former lead singer of the Modern Lovers. I am also looking forward to tonight’s show at the Jinx, I don’t think I have ever seen a female Greek punk band before (or even a male Greek punk band, for that matter). It looks like the rest of the weekend choices will be depending on your taste, there is a big variety of music. Most of the shows listed look good, I guess it depends on your mood where you want to end up.

Wednesday 21st
Barb Wire Dolls (Greek punk), COEDS (Sav’h rawk), Anxiety Junkies (Sav’h punk) – Jinx

Thursday 22nd
Ghost Ease (Portland shreddy daydream), Toxic Shock (Sav’h punk), Twisty Cats (Sav’h dark wave duo), Gumps (Sav’h folk-punk) – Wormhole ($8/$4 w/ costume)

Friday 23rd
Rottenblush (Sav’h rock) – Wormhole
Magic Rocks (Sav’h classic rock) – Rocks On The Roof
Under The Porch (Atlanta rock) – Congress Street Social Club
Kinky Aphrodisiacs (Atlanta southern progressive rock), Midnight Snack – Barrelhouse South

Saturday 24th
Generational Pill (Sav’h garbage music), Grimsel (Sav’h duo), Sleepy Boy, Kyle, Sunglow (Sav’h electronica) – Hang Fire ($7, includes CD-ROM)
CornBreadFed, Cory Chambers Jazz Band – Sentient Bean
Ben Keiser Band – Barrelhouse South
Isaac Bramblett Band (Athens Southern roots rock) – Congress Street Social Club
Letters To Abagail (NC Americana) – Huc-A-Poo’s
Shooter Jennings – Coach’s Corner
Train Wrecks (Sav’h Americana), Lyn Avenue (Sav’h country), Sarah Poole (Sav’h singer-songwriter) – Tybee Post Theater (8p)
Wave Slaves (11A), Xulu Prophet (12n), Waits & Co (1p), Ben Keiser Band (3p), Ambrose (4p) – Daffin Park Food Day

Wednesday 28th
Jonathan Richman with Tommy Larkin – Wormhole
TWIABP, Superheaven (PA rock), Rozwell Kid, Bright Side – Dollhouse Studios

2015 Well Fed Food Day Festival – preview – links & video

by JWaits • October 19, 2015

This coming Saturday (10-24-15) brings the annual Well Fed Food Day Festival back to Daffin Park in Savannah, Georgia from 11am until 5pm.

Well Fed Food Day Festival

The website states ‘Food Day is a nationwide celebration and a movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. This is a national grassroots mobilization backed by some of the most prominent voices for energizing the food movement. Each year on October 24th, people gather at events big and small and from coast to coast in homes, schools, colleges, churches, city halls, farmers’ markets, supermarkets, and elsewhere to raise awareness about food issues and advocate for change. Here in Savannah, Well FED celebrates Food Day with the single largest Food Day event in the nation’!

The Facebook event invite can be found here: 2015 Well Fed Food Day Festival

In addition to a variety of information and presentations from community groups, the festival also features an afternoon of music & performances. Scheduled to appear are:

The Wave Slaves
Xulu Prophet
Waits & Co.
Savannah Arts Skyelight Jazz Band
The Ben Kaiser Band
Ambrose

Curbdogs, Breakers, & The Hernies at Hang Fire – photos

by bill • October 18, 2015

Last Thursday night, I hung out at Hang Fire for the first time since they got a last-minute, short-term lease extension. (Still no final word on exactly where the bar will be moving in 2016.)

Seeing the diversity of people wandering in the door and feeling the energy of the space, I was reminded again just how vital the Whitaker Street bar and club has been to the Savannah music scene.

It was a really quiet night downtown, but the bar was jumping — sometimes literally — for a free show with local acts Curbdogs and Breakers plus The Hernies from Athens, who kicked the night off with a strong set of what I’ll call garage rock for want of a better term.

I’m super excited about the new Savannah band Breakers (who were profiled last week here at hissing lawns), and I can’t wait to hear the results of their recent recording sessions at Dollhouse Productions. So far, the sound reminds me of new wave-y stuff circa 1990, but there’s a sharp edge live — you get the feeling that lead singer Samford Justice might lose his mind at any moment.

Curbdogs finished off the show by ripping as usual through a high-energy set. Curbdogs has a loyal following at Hang Fire and on the house show circuit, but I’m betting they’ll have a much higher profile around town in 2016.

The lighting is always a struggle for photographers at Hang Fire, so I just resorted completely to flash for this show, with slightly better results than usual.

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