hissing lawns

Shaky Boots Festival a big hit on the heels of Shaky Knees

by bill • May 20, 2015

We recently posted a lot of coverage of Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Festival, but I wasn’t able to attend Shaky Boots Festival. The new country fest, which was held in Kennesaw, was held the weekend immediately after Shaky Knees

Shaky Boots featured some big names in country — including Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, and Dwight Yoakam — and some acts that might fit more comfortably in the worlds of alt-country, Americana, bluegrass, or some other style, like Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Cracker, and Jim White Vs. The Packway Handle Band.

Shaky Knees 2015 represented an ambitious step forward for the festival in only its 3rd year, and I love that the organizers have stretched to create Shaky Boots too. I sure hope that circumstances allow hissing lawns to cover both festivals firsthand next year.

Like Shaky Knees, Shaky Boots has been getting some excellent press, including from the AJC. Click on through to see these Facebook galleries with photos from day 1 and day 2 by aLIVE Coverage.

Shaky Boots Day 1Photos by aLIVE Coverage

Posted by Shaky Boots Festival on Sunday, May 17, 2015

Shaky Boots – Day 2Photos by aLIVE Coverage

Posted by Shaky Boots Festival on Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Revival Fest announces 2015 lineup — with headliners Fruit Bats, Southern Culture On The Skids, Parker Millsap, Those Darlins

by bill • May 19, 2015

After only two years, Revival Fest has established itself as one of the best single days of music in Savannah. The 2015 festival is slated for September 12th at the Georgia State Railroad Museum (commonly called The Roundhouse around town).

The old paint shop on the western edge of the property, on the bluff above Boundary Street, provides a perfect setting for the event, which has two stages (one inside, one outside) and runs from noon to 11 p.m. It’s quite a setup — one band finishes, the Sweet Thunder Strolling Band (yes, they’re back) will play a song or two, and then another band begins playing at the alternate stage.

By the way, Revival Fest is yet another effort from MusicFile Productions, which is also the parent company of Savannah Stopover.

The exciting lineup for the 3rd annual festival includes a few acts that have already proven extremely popular in Savannah — like Southern Culture On The Skids, Christopher Paul Stelling, and Those Darlins — and also boasts some excellent musicians that have never played here (as far as I know), most notably the recently reinvigorated Fruit Bats and Parker Millsap. The three local bands are really strong too: Missionary Blues, Paving Gravy, and the aforementioned Sweet Thunder Strolling Band, which bandleader Andrew Hartzell named in honor of the late Ben Tucker.

As noted in the press release, the 2015 Revival Fest “places a strong emphasis on Southern music and celebrates a variety of genres, from the old school electric blues of Robert Lee Coleman (who played in both Percy Sledge’s and James Brown’s bands) to rising Americana/Folk star Christopher Paul Stelling.” Festival founder Kayne Lanahan said, “We love the juxtaposition of old and new; Southern Culture On The Skids next to Those Darlins; Robert Lee Coleman on the same lineup as 22 year old Parker Millsap. I think it celebrates what’s grounded and real in music today across generations.”

The 2015 festival will also include a pig roast, craft beer, ample bourbon, and various other southern food and drink. A portion of the proceeds will benefit educational programs and exhibits at the nearby Tricentennial Park. Tickets are $35 (Advance/Early Bird), $45 (Regular) and $95 (VIP). Early Bird and VIP tickets are now on sale.

Also, the festival has teamed with Uber “to ensure everyone has a safe, reliable ride to Revival Fest.” You have to download the Uber app and sign up with promo code REVIVALFEST or sign up online for your first ride free (up to $20).

Check out a playlist on Soundcloud.

Fruit Bats — a creation of Eric D. Johnson — was founded in the late 1990s and continued until 2013. The folk rock band, which always seems to have the adjective “influential” next to it, released four albums on Sub Pop Records. Johnson has also been a member of The Shins. After quietly announcing via Instagram that Fruit Bats is coming back to life, Johnson has booked a number of dates through 2015, including supporting My Morning Jacket out West.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fruit Bats (@fruit_bats)

I’m doing Fruit Bats again.

A photo posted by Fruit Bats (@fruit_bats) on May 5, 2015 at 1:29pm PDT

Southern Culture On The Skids kicked off the 2015 Savannah Stopover in grand, tacky style — the show was a winner in the Connect’s just-announced Best of Savannah readers’ poll. I’m sure there are plenty of folks anxious for the return trip.

Southern Culture on the Skids at Savannah Stopover 2015

And here’s the rest of the very strong lineup:

The three Savannah-based acts:

Missionary Blues
Paving Gravy
Sweet Thunder Strolling Band

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City Hotel, Waits & Co., and Nightingale News at Forsyth Farmers Market Picnic – photos

by JWaits • May 19, 2015

We (Jon & bill) attended the Forsyth Farmers’ Market inaugural Farm Picnic on Saturday at the old dairy on Savannah’s eastside. What a glorious day. Nightingale News, City Hotel, and Waits & Co. performed. We collaborated on some photos:

Nightingale News

City Hotel

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thanks for choosing hissing lawns as the best blog in Savannah

by bill • May 17, 2015

On Tuesday evening, May 19, Larry Jack and I will be at Connect Savannah’s big party at the Morris Center to accept the award for Best Local Blog in the alt-weekly’s massive Best of Savannah 2015 readers’ poll. (UPDATE: Click here for Connect’s blurb about us. And, um, wow, we also scored a runner-up — Connect Savannah — for Best Local Website.)

A sincere thanks to all of you who voted for hissing lawns. And thanks also to those of you didn’t vote for us but are regular readers, have liked and shared posts, have contributed ideas, and have followed us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And thanks, of course, to all the people who make up Savannah’s music community.

Thanks to Connect, too, for the herculean effort of assembling the Best of Savannah issue.

I’d also like to personally thank our writers and photographers — the active, the inactive, the completely unpredictable, and the “retired” (including Connect’s A&E editor Anna Chandler). I founded this site in September 2013 after years of telling people that we needed a collaborative music blog in Savannah, and I had no idea at the time just how much talent we would attract. No one is making any money here, though I wish we were; our contributors are simply passionate about music and about the people who make up the Savannah scene.

We read a lot of music blogs and websites, and we honestly think we stack up pretty well.

That said, there is a lot that we could be doing better. We’ve done a pretty good job covering high-profile touring acts that come through town, and the blog has tracked some genres fairly closely — Americana, punk, metal, garage rock, various other stripes of indie music.

But we’ve done a poor job covering rap, hip-hop, country, jam, jazz, some hard rock. We’re hit or miss on singer-songwriters — mostly miss. Larry Jack’s weekly previews mention all sorts of venues around town, but a disproportionate number of our reviews and photo galleries are from The Jinx and Hang Fire. Those two venues certainly deserve that attention, but other venues deserve more than they’re getting.

We need additional contributors to help fill these holes. If you’re interested in becoming a hissing lawns contributor, even if your main interests are in genres we’re already covering heavily, please message me via the hissing lawns Facebook page. I’d like to see more previews, more reviews, more photo galleries, more interviews, more video — more everything.

I also hope that we’ll be covering additional festivals, shows, and news from across the Southeast and around the country, but we’ll continue to spend most of our time and energy right here at home. (Btw, we can’t cover Savannah’s active house show scene. If we did, the regular venues could get shut down.)

In a sense, hissing lawns splintered away from the other site I edit, Savannah Unplugged, which was runner-up for Best Local Blog in 2014. Now that I’m putting so much time into hissing lawns, I’m considering ways to retool and reboot that original blog.

A final comment: hissing lawns is named in honor of Joni Mitchell’s song and album “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” — an allusion that is lost on the vast majority of readers, I’ve learned. Here’s a snippet of the lyrics:

He put up a barbed wire fence
To keep out the unknown
And on every metal thorn
Just a little blood of his own
She patrols that fence of his
To a latin drum
And the hissing of summer lawns

If you’ve grown up anywhere in the South or Midwest, you’ve heard the hissing of summer lawns. You’ve seen attempts to define and structure the natural world with geometric precision. And you’ve heard the untamed wildness that can be kept briefly at bay, but cannot be denied.

I think it’s a great name for a music blog, even if people occasionally call it “hissing loans” or “kissing yawns”.

Thanks for reading hissing lawns.

The Wailers, Rusted Root scheduled for SCAD’s “New Alumni Concert” 2015

by bill • May 16, 2015

Note: If you’re looking for info on SCAD’s 2016 New Alumni Concert, click here.

We’ve known for a little while now about a couple acts — The Wailers and Rusted Root — booked for Forsyth Park on the night before the Savannah College of Art & Design’s spring commencement ceremonies, but we’ve been kind of waiting for SCAD to make things official. But we’re tired of waiting. The “new alumni concert” is less than two weeks away and the names are starting to appear in multiple places on the web — including Pollstar.

UPDATE: SCAD has confirmed The Wailers and Rusted Root. The show starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 29 (and SCAD has a habit of starting these things on time). No additional acts have been announced.

And let me add: excellent choices!

Of course, there are generally three acts booked for the annual spring concert in Forsyth, which has become the unofficial kickoff to summer in Savannah. We don’t have any earthly clue who that third act is, or even if there is one. (We’re betting it’s not Mumford & Sons.)

Sure, The Wailers have played two out of the last three Savannah Music Festivals — those were fabulous shows, but they a) weren’t free and b) weren’t in the wide open space at Forsyth. I missed the 2015 SMF show, but the 2013 performance was way better than I expected.

The Wailers in 2014 at Glastonbury:

From The Wailers website:
The anchor of the band is Aston “Family Man” Barrett, who in addition to being Marley’s most trusted lieutenant, played on countless other classic reggae hits throughout the seventies. The authenticity he brings to the Wailers’ sound is indisputable and yet today’s line-up combines old school know-how with lead vocals from one of Jamaica’s most exciting new singers [Dwayne Anglin].

I haven’t followed Rusted Root for years, but who doesn’t know this one?:

Founded in Pittsburgh, Rusted Root has been playing their melding of world music, rock, jam, and more for a quarter century.

The best SCAD-produced concerts in Forsyth have been the ones that turned into the biggest parties — like Michael Franti, Ziggy Marley, James Brown, George Clinton. The Wailers and Rusted Root could fit right in with those great shows.

Thoughts from Shaky Knees Music Festival (5/8-5/10)

by andy_berger • May 15, 2015

I believe Shaky Knees — in its third location in as many years — is a festival designed with a person like me in mind, and I’ll be interested to see if that remains true as the young festival continues to grow and evolve.

Although there were multiple moments over the course of the weekend in which I thought or said, “I’m too old for this shit” — both on account of the number of much younger faces I saw all around and my waning willingness to traipse all over the festival-grounds in unseasonably hot weather – the lineup seemed catered to someone of my vintage. The Strokes, Wilco, Pixies, Social Distortion, Ryan Adams, Noel Gallagher, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Neutral Milk Hotel would have been very, very solid draws at a music festival in 2004. Hell, several acts who received mid-tier billing for Shaky Knees could have drawn nice crowds a decade ago. Just look at The Mountain Goats, Built to Spill, Aimee Mann, and Old 97’s down there in the middle of the bill. The only top-billed act who didn’t exist ten years ago was Tame Impala.

The lineup also seemed to cater to the fact that, while I enjoy a good craft beer now and then, I have absolutely no interest in staying up all night on party drugs. I never once saw an individual actively in the depths of drug-induced paranoid psychosis. Having attended Bonnaroo three times, I can report that you can’t walk twenty paces on the Farm without coming across someone who is having a Bad Time. While I came across a few folks who were on Struggle Street as a result of the heat, it was nice to see the majority of festival-goers upright and functional.

Part of the easy-going atmosphere might be chalked up to the festival’s ethos of “no button pushers.” Shaky Knees founder, Tim Sweetwood, has mentioned in interviews that he wants to book performers who actually play instruments. Sweetwood’s goal, it seems, is to stay away from artists who just stand on stage and push buttons on their MacBooks. Although Shaky Knees strayed from that mission slightly by booking acts such as Panda Bear and Milky Chance, the majority of acts on the lineup fit under the loose umbrella of rock ‘n roll.

Despite the heat, I had a great weekend. Out of all of the music festivals I’ve ever attended, this year’s Shaky Knees very well may have been the most enjoyable. If the lineup at next year’s Shaky Knees is half as good as this year’s, I’ll definitely be in Midtown Atlanta over the Mother’s Day weekend.

Here are the sets I enjoyed the most this year:

Nikki Lane: I only caught part of Lane’s 12:30, Sunday set, but I quite liked what I heard. Her charisma, stage presence, and voice call to mind a twangier Jenny Lewis. And, man, her band cooked. They added just enough atmosphere and color to add a level of intrigue to, but not distract from, Lane’s hooky songs.

Mac Demarco: The 25-year-old Canadian’s stage presence is almost as bizarre as his music. Musically, he does stoned garage ditties, slacker blues songs, and atmospheric synth jams. Onstage, he cracked inside jokes with his bandmates, seemed to, at times, openly deride or mock his audience, and had his band perform an ironic cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” while he changed out a broken string on his guitar. Demarco’s a difficult guy to pin down, but I was utterly captivated by his set.

Old Crow Medicine Show: I know we’re now several years into the Old Crow backlash, but these guys are just such a joy to see live. This was the second rowdiest crowd I saw all weekend. Every time Ketch and the boys played one of their stompers, a massive circle hoedown broke out in the middle of the crowd. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and it was a fun sight to behold.

The Both:

For me, this was the best surprise of the weekend. It turns out that if you put Aimee Mann and Ted Leo together in a band, they will write melodies for days. I purchased their self-titled album the second I got back to Savannah.

Pixies:

Anytime you get to hear “Bone Machine” and “U-Mass” back-to-back is a good time. A recently sober Dave Lovering has the band sounding tighter than it has in years. Indie goddess Kim Deal might be gone, but her replacement, Paz Lenchantin, brought a new level of enthusiasm to the proceedings (even if she can’t hit the high notes quite like Kim could).

The Mountain Goats: John Darnielle’s band released a concept album about professional wrestling earlier this year, which is so fantastically uncool, it circles all the way back around to being one of the coolest things a band could possibly do. These guys played a tight, fun set. Darnielle dusted off “Cubs in Five” and “Alpha Omega” during his solo portion of the set, and the whole band closed things out with a raucous rendition of “No Children.”

Neutral Milk Hotel: I’ve never seen Jeff Mangum and his band of indie heroes before, and from the sound of it, this was very well my last opportunity. They didn’t disappoint. As I listened to one shimmering pop gem after another, I was reminded that Mangum is surely one of the best and most interesting songwriters of the last twenty years.

FIDLAR: THIS was the rowdiest crowd of the weekend. A pit broke out; beer cans and shoes and miscellaneous trash were wildly flung around (my friend was actually hit in the face by a sandal—she was okay); the entire crowd enthusiastically chanted along to nearly every song. THIS was a fun set. If there are two schools of punk rock, Ramones (read: fun) and The Clash (read: serious), FIDLAR are the current kings of the Ramones school of punk rock. FIDLAR offered a much needed shot of youthful exuberance in a weekend that featured a lot of Dad Rock and a lot of Dad Bods (come on, guys, put your shirts on). Thinking back on this set, I just want to pump my fist and chant the refrain of “Cheap Beer”: “I. DRINK. CHEAP. BEER. SO. WHAT. FUCK. YOU.” Sorry, dads.

Wilco: I don’t think Wilco is capable of disappointing. I’ve seen them four times now, and each time, I walk away saying, “that’s the best band in the world.” They played a tight, hour-and-fifteen-minute, career-spanning set that featured at least one song from each of their studio albums. Wilco knows how to play a festival set: roll out the burners (“Heavy Metal Drummer,” “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” “A Shot in the Arm”) and sprinkle in a few deep cuts for the die-hard fans (“Camera,” “Secret of the Sea,” “Red-Eyed and Blue”). And I finally got to hear them play “Via Chicago!”

Ryan Adams: Okay, I have to go full fanboy for this one. I LOVE Ryan Adams, but somehow I had never seen him live until now. He only got to play an hour, which wasn’t enough, but he used his hour very wisely. He leaned heavily on his hits, strolled out three Cardinals-era epic jams, and even covered Danzig’s “Mother” in honor of Mother’s Day (which is actually not very fitting, he noted after singing it). His new band, The Shining, are just as tight as The Cardinals were, but more versatile. This was my favorite set of the weekend. Long live, Ryan Adams.

Kudos to the organizers of Shaky Knees. It was a wonderful weekend, and I very much hope to be back next year.

Larry Jack’s Magical Music Tour 5/14/15 – 5/20/15

by Larry Jack Sammons • May 14, 2015

Hey guys,
Looks like there are several good shows this week too. There are opportunities to catch some bluegrass, rock, blues, gypsy-jazz, punk, and more. There are a few big shows this week, including Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest Of Glass on Thursday and bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley on Friday. I hope to see some of you out and about this weekend.

Thursday 14th
Jon Lee’s Apparitions (Sav’h rock) – Warehouse (8p)
Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest Of Glass, Velvet Caravan (Sav’h gypsy-jazz) – Service Brewing (9:30, $20, includes beer tastings)
Mantras (NC prog-rock, jam), Piano (Statesboro blues-rock) – Barrelhouse South
Cory Chambers (bluegrass, City Hotel) – Molly MacPherson’s

Friday 15th
Accomplices (Sav’h lowcountry string band) – Wyld Dock Bar (8p)
Dr. Ralph Stanley (banjo legend) – Mars Theater ($67)
Jubal Kane (Sav’h jukebox blues) – Warehouse (8p)
City Hotel (Sav’h bluegrass) – Molly MacPherson’s
Hooten Hallers (blues, hillbilly soul), Joe Nelson (Sav’h roots music) – Jinx ($7)
Reckless Abandon (NC hard rock-blues) – Congress Street Social Club
Zach Deputy (SC jamband) – Barrelhouse South
Generation Pill (grunge punk), Culture Vulture (Sav’h instrumental progressive rock), Carpet Coats (folk rock) – Hang Fire

Saturday 16th
Shana Falana (NY dream pop), Wet Socks (Sav’h garage punk), Blackrune (Sav’h dream drone), Grimsel (Sav’h duo) – Dollhouse Studios
Charlie Fog Band (Sav’h Grateful Dead covers) – Barrelhouse South
General Patton & the Heads of State (Sav’h rock) – Social
I Am Intestine (Tampa powerviolence), Toxic Shock (Sav’h punk), Sherman’s Boot (Sav’h punk), Forced Entry (Sav’h punk) – Jinx

Monday 18th
Guerilla Toss, Crazy Bag Lady (Sav’h punk), Mans Trash, Sunglow (Sav’h electronica) – Hang Fire

Wednesday 20th
The Slackers (NY ska-soul), The Duppies (FL reggae) – Jinx ($10)

a few final thoughts on Shaky Knees 2015 + more photos

by bill • May 14, 2015

I’ve already posted quick recaps of each day of Shaky Knees Music Festival last weekend in Atlanta’s Central Park, and I’ve posted some larger galleries too — Interpol, The Avett Brothers, Tame Impala, The Strokes, Mastodon. I’ve also posted about 8 acts that played stellar early afternoon shows. And soon I’ll be sharing a huge gallery to the hissing lawns Facebook page (please take a second and “like” us — it really helps).

One of the most exciting things about covering a festival like Shaky Knees is the chance to connect with a broader music community — with fans, musicians, other press. And it’s pretty cool when your photos are shared by The Strokes:

Julian and Albert at #shakyknees last weekend. 📷 by @hissinglawns

A photo posted by The Strokes (@thestrokes) on May 13, 2015 at 8:49am PDT

@thestrokes Shaky Knees (from @hissinglawns) pic.twitter.com/gcghTnfajP

— The Strokes Fans (@TheStrokes_Fans) May 11, 2015

There were more Savannah folks at Shaky Knees than I expected. A couple other of our contributors were there, just to enjoy themselves, and I was running into people I knew all weekend. And I had the requisite awkward moments when Armstrong State University students greeted me by name and I couldn’t remember theirs.

Next time I’ll do a little more homework, however. I had a couple of “oh shit” moments, like when I realized that I had missed almost all of Diamond Rugs on the Boulevard stage.

The festival was billed as taking place in Central Park, but it spilled over into another nearby park and into the parking lot of the Civic Center. That parking lot was brutally hot — and the pavement hard, obviously — but those seemed like small compromises to comfort. I didn’t attend Shaky Knees in 2014, but the whole festival was on pavement at Atlantic Station.

It would have been nice if the three smaller stages adjacent to the Civic Center had been a tad closer to the main stages in Central Park, but the space still worked really well — no serious bleeding of sound, no major bottlenecks for pedestrians. I will say, however, how surprised I have been that even some midtown Atlanta residents don’t even know the name and location of Central Park, which apparently borders some sketchier neighborhoods.

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8 Shaky Knees acts you should have seen (but probably didn’t)

by bill • May 13, 2015

The attendance seemed pretty strong to me throughout the 3-day Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, and all the acts here had fairly good crowds. But more people should have turned out for all of them — a lot more. It’s a real testament to Shaky Knees that they had this much talent playing early afternoon slots.

The Both
Aimee Mann and Ted Leo are The Both. Yes, that Aimee Mann — ‘Til Tuesday, an Oscar nod for a song in Magnolia, a part in The Big Lebowski that you’ve probably forgotten, a lengthy and diverse solo career and more projects than I can list here. Ted Leo is known primarily for various punk acts, including Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Citizens Arrest, and Animal Crackers.

There was a decent crowd on the main stage at Shaky Knees for The Both’s afternoon set on Sunday, but some of those in attendance might have had sunstroke and been unable to move. The sun beat down on Mann and Leo too — it was a hot day for early May, that’s for sure — but they laughed it off in a way that could have seemed cynical, but didn’t seem cynical at all. The pair had the easy nonchalance on stage of musicians who have paid their dues — and paid lots of other people’s dues too — and have earned the right to do whatever the fuck they want.

And what they have decided to do is subtle, finely crafted, witty, and really clean music with just enough emotion to suddenly stop you cold. The set was definitely “craneworthy”, which Mann herself questioned as the camera soared around them, projecting massive Leos and Manns on the screens flanking the stage.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Where has Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue been all my life? I love all sorts of New Orleans and Louisiana roots music, and I’ve heard plenty of performers try to meld various styles, but I don’t know if there’s a performer out there as versatile, energetic, and charismatic as Troy Andrews. There was a decent crowd at the Ponce stage on Sunday afternoon (I’ve never taken photos where I had to fight so much direct sun), but the place should have been packed.

I’d pull out some stops to see Trombone Shorty again. Also, never a bad thing, the guy literally doesn’t take a bad photo.

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Bottles & Cans at ArtLab Sessions – photos

by JWaits • May 13, 2015

Savannah’s own Bottles & Cans stopped in to ArtLab Sessions this week. Video of that performance will be coming soon, but here are some still-shots from that session.

More photos after the jump

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Kylesa at The Wormhole – photos

by bill • May 13, 2015

None of our usual hissing lawns photographers were able to go to Kylesa’s big hometown show at The Wormhole last weekend — both Tom and I were at Shaky Knees in Atlanta — but Wicked Ways Photography has graciously allowed us to use a handful of photos. These are now part of Wicked Ways’ archive of Kylesa pics. (Wicked Ways has been documenting the metal scene for years, so click on through and check out more galleries.)

Also on the bill were Wet Socks and Crazy Bag Lady, both of whom have albums out on Retro Futurist Records, which was founded by core members of Kylesa.

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Tame Impala at Shaky Knees – photos

by bill • May 13, 2015

Tame Impala — the psychedelic rock band from Australia — closed out Shaky Knees Festival on Sunday night to a big audience in Atlanta’s Central Park. I loved the diversity of the nighttime headliners — there were different vibes on Friday for The Strokes and Saturday for The Avett Brothers.

Pit photographers only get to shoot the first three songs, so you can appreciate the richness of the band’s light show — a beautiful addition to the music. Lots more photos after the jump.

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