hissing lawns

Avers at Savannah Stopover 2015 – photos

by bill • March 12, 2015

I didn’t know quite what to expect from the Richmond, Va.-based rock band Avers on opening night of the 5th annual Savannah Stopover, but I was really impressed by how tight and talented the 6-piece was. I’d check them out again in a heartbeat.

This was the first year that Stopover used Wild Wing Cafe in City Market as a venue. The stage feels a little high for the space, but the sound was solid and the lighting better than most of the other venues. And Wild Wing is right there — practically across the street from The Jinx.

Live, Avers sounded even sharper and faster than this excellent recording:

I took pics, of course:

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Tijuana Hercules, Pierce Edens, and Waits & Co. at Hang Fire – preview

by JWaits • March 11, 2015

This Thursday evening (3-12), as both the official St. Pat’s weekend looms and SCAD wraps up another quarter, the City of Savannah is in for a special treat. Post-punk, Atlanta noise rock legend John Forbes (Phantom 309, Dirt, Mt. Shasta) will be bringing his latest creation, Tijuana Hercules, to town. Having relocated to Chicago, this band has a different sound than John’s projects of the past, combining boogie-woogie, blues, country, and biting brass-bass-drum rhythms. It’s hard to define what these guys are up to with everyday descriptions, but they pump out a long, hot groove that’s guaranteed to get your hips swaying, and put a devilish smile on your face. I was privileged to play on a bill with Tijuana Hercules, Catpower, and many other notable Atlanta characters last year, and finally had the chance to meet John after many years of being a fan from afar.

Pierce Edens, from Asheville, N.C., will be opening the show with some of the lowest, meanest, down & dirty blues based tunes that you’ve ever heard. His jam tends to be one of a fallen man seeking redemption, and playing in a mash-up of open tunings as well as using an amplified, homemade stomp-box for the back beat is yet another nod to the dark side of life. Pierce recently came through Savannah and performed at The Jinx with The Train Wrecks to much applause and a packed house. The following day I spent a few hours with him and his sidekick (Kevin), and shot a series of new press & promo images.

Pierce Edens

Waits & Co. will be hosting this show and is thrilled to be performing again as a five-piece band, with the assistance of Stu Harmening on dobro, and Jeremy Hammons on drums, of The Train Wrecks. The band’s lineup has changed in the last few month’s with the addition of John Pizzichemi on both stand-up, and electric bass. John comes to Waits & Co. from the NYC punk and louder rock scene. We’re looking forward to playing this show, but more than anything we’re looking forward to listening to these great out-of-town, touring artists as they do their thing!

Waits & Co.

Tijuana Hercules – photo by Joni Kat Anderson

Southern Culture on the Skids at Savannah Stopover – photos

by bill • March 11, 2015

Savannah Stopover might be best known for bringing up-and-coming artists to town, but the festival and its parent company MusicFile Productions has always brought more established performers too — like Thurston Moore and his new project Chelsea Light Moving, of Montreal, Os Mutantes, and Modern English.

So no reason to be too surprised that the opening night of the 2015 Savannah Stopover was headlined by Southern Culture on the Skids. Super fun show. Tom Cartmel and I took pics:

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Turbo Fruits at Savannah Stopover 2015 – photos

by bill • March 10, 2015

If Turbo Fruits had been the only touring act in Savannah last weekend, I would have been satisfied. Of course, the Nashville-based band was only one out of dozens that played the 5th annual Savannah Stopover.

But Turbo Fruits’ rock and roll stands out in any crowd. We were especially lucky that they played the big stage in the Morris Center at Trustees’ Garden on opening night and filled in for a band that had to cancel on Friday night at Hang Fire. Both sets were awesome.

A triply new video was released today via FLOOD Magazine:

Tom and I both got some shots of the band — you know the drill, more after the jump:

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Corners at Savannah Stopover – photos

by bill • March 10, 2015

After Savannah Stopover’s opening night party at Trustees’ Garden, some of us crowded into Hang Fire for an intense, kind of thrilling set by Corners, a foursome from L.A. working with Burger Records and Lolipop Records. Corners is often described as “post-punk”, but I’m kind of weary of living in a world where everything is “post-” something else. I find Corners’ sound a fresh, garage-y, West Coast take on some New Wave sounds.

Corners was especially exciting to see in the tight confines of Hang Fire, with a mysterious — and bright — spotlight occasionally finding its way through the crowd. (Photographers learn fast that they’ll take any light they can get at Hang Fire.)

Corners’ new single “No Confusion” premiered just last week at Wonderland and was one of the highlights of their Savannah set:

The band has a great look and subdued charismatic stage presence too. We’ll for sure keep an eye on Corners, and we sure hope they come back this way. A couple of pics here with more after the jump:

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Tom’s Savannah Stopover Day 1 – photos

by Tom Cartmel • March 10, 2015

Favorite Stopover ever? Favorite Stopover ever. Despite, ummmmmm, coming out of the gates a little strong opening night (I deserved to feel much, much, worse Friday morning) and walking to Trustees’ Garden in a pouring rain, I had a blast Thursday night. Hell, I had a grand time every night. I’ve attended all 5 Stopovers and this year had the best group of venues, possibly the most solid lineup top to bottom, definitely the best V.I.P. experience, and just generally the coolest vibe yet. More on all of that in the next few days.

Anyway, despite myself, I took a good many pictures of Turbo Fruits, Southern Culture on the Skids, Corners, Hiss Golden Messenger and ELEL. I was most happily surprised by the Corners set, and loved the Hiss Golden Messenger performance (William Tyler on guitar!!!) Check the shots out, more after the jump, as usual.

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Savannah Stopover on Georgia Public Broadcasting — lots of audio

by bill • March 9, 2015

Savannah Stopover got some excellent coverage this year from Georgia Public Broadcasting, especially the hour-long weekday talk show On Second Thought, hosted by Celeste Headlee.

Headlee and her team even came to Savannah so OST could broadcast live from the festival, with support from the folks at GPB Savannah. Now that Stopover is over, I finally had the chance to catch up on all the coverage (or much of it, sorry if I left something out). While I listened, I copied and pasted the Soundcloud embed codes, so below are segments from On Second Thought plus Sarah McCammon’s GPB Savannah coverage and one podcast too.

For more info and for entire programs, you can click on through the various links above or the links in the streams below.

First up, here’s Sarah McCammon with a GPB segment on Savannah Stopover, including profiles of and quotes from Bond St. District and Coy Campbell of Nightingale News:

And from last Wednesday’s program, Savannah Stopover founder and CEO with her two picks for GPB’s ultimate Georgia Playlist — R.E.M.’s “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” and Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Airplane Over the Sea”:

Here’s Coy Campbell with Nightingale News talking about Savannah Stopover and presenting his two picks for GPB’s Georgia Playlist — Johnny Mercer’s “Autumn Leaves” and Vic Chesnutt’s “Stay Inside”:

And here’s a chat with me, after Sean Powers’ talk with a Stopover attendee at Gallery Espresso, with snippets from Nightingale News playing on either end:

Sean Powers from OST talks to artist Caleb Williamson about his Stopover band poster exhibition entry created for Tall Tall Trees:

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a quick take on day 3 of the 2015 Savannah Stopover – photos

by bill • March 8, 2015

The final day of Savannah Stopover 2015 was marked by strong crowds, thrilling bands, and beautiful weather. Hard to believe that Stopover was just celebrating its 5th year.

There are many ways in which Stopover can grow and change in the coming years, and we’ll have some more to say about that in future posts. Over the next week or so, I expect that we’ll share a lot of galleries and more detailed recaps of the 3-day festival, so take this post for what it is: one music fan’s wanderings on the festival’s final day.

Yes, I could get a press pass, but I’m also a fan and supporter of live music, so I buy a VIP pass. It’s pretty easy for it to pay for itself, by the way: a few drinks at the artists’ lounge, a good time at the Sunday afternoon wrap party, and a few special events more than pay for the difference between the VIP pass and a regular one.

Saturday started with a wonderful VIP gathering outdoors at The Grey on MLK. Chef Mashama cooked up some pork, oysters, an eggplant dish, red rice, salad (which seemed almost insultingly healthy after two nights of seeing bands in bars). this mountain from Johnson City performed — a perfect band for a perfect day.

I slipped out of the party a few minutes early to try to catch Black Water Choir — the kickoff band for the Furious Hooves showcase at Ampersand — but the show ended a little early and I missed it. In the first couple of years of Stopover, the festival struggled to keep all the venues on time, but that has become less and less of an issue, and occasionally the sets do even end early; that is a very difficult thing to get used to if you live in Savannah.

So I headed right over to Wild Wing for Lilly Hiatt, who has a gorgeous, rich voice, strong songs, and an especially engaging stage presence (and seemed just as nice off stage too). Then I bounced over to The Jinx, just across Ellis Square, for Las Rosas’ excellent afternoon rock set. Then back to Wild Wing for rising star Margo Price and her act Margo & The Price Tags. The show was more upbeat than I expected, and I’m betting that you’ll be hearing about Margo & The Price Tags for a long time. And then I slipped back across the square for Justin Collins at The Jinx — another super-talented band.

Adia Victoria was up next at Wild Wing. I had already fixed on her as one of the lesser-known Stopover artists who could totally break out in the next year or so, and Saturday’s set confirmed my feelings, and then some. It was more of a rock show than I expected, and despite the facts that Adia Victoria only has two songs out in the world and that probably no one in attendance had seen her live, the crowd pulled forward — and then forward some more. I’ll have a lot more photos later of Adia Victoria and some of these other acts:

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a quick take on day 2 of Savannah Stopover 2015 – photos

by bill • March 7, 2015

Ok, we all survived, I think.

Day 2 of the 2015 Savannah Stopover was one of the most satisfying nights of music I’ve ever experienced. Part of the reason was some good planning, but good luck was on my side too. And, of course, I couldn’t have had a night like that without the amazing organizational efforts of Savannah Stopover staff and volunteers and without some spectacular musicianship.

I started by night of music at The Jinx a little after 5 p.m. with 100 Watt Horse and finished the night there too, sometime around 1:30 a.m. with All Them Witches. Despite the fact that I saw a lot of bands with minimal walking between venues, there were many more I hoped to hear.

The early part of my evening was dominated by some stellar songwriting and incredibly engaging, intimate performances. I’ll for sure be checking out the work of 100 Watt Horse, and after seeing him at The Jinx I headed to Trinity United Methodist Church for a very well-attended late afternoon set by Christopher Paul Stelling, who has played more Stopovers than any other artist I think and who had the audience enthralled. My next stop was Ampersand for Fire Mountain from Alabama — such a good band, and another act that lovers of country and Americana should check out.

A text from a friend lured me to Congress Street Social Club for much of an excellent set by White Violet from Athens, one of those acts that hadn’t really been on my radar. From there, it was back around the corner to Ampersand for an outstanding show by Guthrie Brown and The Family Tree — the guy’s got some swagger and writes some smart songs.

Caleb Caudle looks like a rising country star, and his moving performance seemed a perfect fit at Trinity, and The Prettiots subversive lyrics felt right at home at Hang Fire (which needs better lighting for photos).

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Savannah Stopover V preview: 3 picks for day 2

by Jason • March 6, 2015

Day 2 is upon us. Here’s hoping you didn’t overdo it last night, don’t forget there are two more days of this. Last night I made it to Turbo Fruits, S.C.O.T.S, Nightingale News (thanks for the lift Timmy Welter), Ryley Walker, Les Racquet, Alanna Royale, and PitchBlak Brass Band. Not bad for night one. Had I been a little more motivated I could haven taken in some of the bands at Hang Fire.

Fire Mountain – 5:30 Friday at Ampersand: Each time this Alabama band’s tune “Be Your Eyes” comes around on my Savannah Stopover playlist, I’ve noticed my mood improves just a bit and I turn up the volume.

Guthrie Brown & The Family Tree – 6:30 at Ampersand: I imagine I’ll make a quick trip to the poster exhibition at The Jepson Center between these two bands. This is another one I’ve really been enjoying on my Savannah Stopover playlist these last few months.

Capsula – 11:30 at The Jinx: This band put on an amazing show at The Dollhouse last year. What can I say other than I want more. Highly recommended, we’re fortunate to have them back in Savannah.

A final note, I encourage everyone to check out the shows at Trinity. Call that a fourth recommendation if you like, but it’s a venue rather than a band so I’m tossing it in. It was wonderful listening to Ryley Walker there last night, and I expect to be there again at some point this evening for Bombadil among others.

a quick take on day 1 of Savannah Stopover 2015 – photos

by bill • March 6, 2015

One of the things I like best about Savannah Stopover is the ease with which fans can curate their own experiences. Here are a few quick photos from my first night, this is just me. No one had quite the same experience. I didn’t even make it at all to two of the venues, and I missed a couple of acts that I was intrigued to hear, while still being thrilled by what I did experience.

Stopover kicked off its 5th year last night with a big party at the Morris Center at Trustees Garden on East Broad Street. Local surf rockers Wave Slaves go things rolling, and then Nashville-based Turbo Fruits put on a stellar rock show. I talked to several attendees who didn’t know Turbo Fruits at all who were blown away.

And then came Southern Culture on the Skids, who had not played Savannah in way over a decade. By the time they came on, there was a tremendous crowd, despite some rain and falling temps. I’ll have more to say about some of the opening night shows later, and we’ll certainly have more pics than these to post either in galleries here on the blog or on the hissing lawns Facebook page.

At that point, folks who had the energy to invest in the full opening night experience headed deeper into the Historic District. My first stop was Hang Fire for Corners from L.A. Wow, so good. Look for a full gallery in a few days.

Then I made a quick stop at Trinity United Methodist Church for some stellar musicianship by Hiss Golden Messenger, which had William Tyler playing on guitar.

And then to the second floor of Wild Wing Cafe for Avers from Richmond, Virginia — a high energy rock band with some spectacularly versatile musicians.

I got back to Hang Fire in time for just one song by Cobalt Cranes, so I’ll have to see more of them on their next trip. I wrapped up the night at The Jinx for PitchBlak Brass Brand, a crowd favorite last year who had the packed house dancing exuberantly.

A few acts had to cancel last night because of weather-related travel problems — ASTR, Horse Thief, and Gap Dream. Clear Plastic Masks has been rescheduled for 3/6.

Last night presented a lot of difficult choices, but the weekend is insane by comparison.

Savannah Stopover V preview: 3 picks for day 1

by Jason • March 5, 2015

Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke once said, “No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength,” which we’ve all heard paraphrased as “no plan survives contact with the enemy.” I only mention that quote because I can tell you from experience that it’s quite easy for your ears to perk up as you walk by a venue, and before you know it you’ve walked inside for a listen and missed the band you were originally on your way to hear. Point is, while it’s great to have a plan, don’t be afraid to follow your ears and deviate from that plan now and then. With that in mind, here are three bands for day one of Savannah Stopover V that I’m determined to see. I’ll be writing posts for days two and three as well, so feel free to check with me on Sunday and I’ll let you know how many of these I actually made it to.

Southern Culture on the Skids – 8:00 Thursday at the Morris Center: How could I not include them? Don’t even try to pigeonhole this band into a genre — like many great bands they’ve formed their own singular sound. If you’re not familiar and searching for a label, think Americana and rockabilly mixed with a little funk and R&B. Local surf rockers The Wave Slaves open at 6:00 with Nashville’s Turbo Fruits going on at 7:00. For more on Turbo Fruits, have a look at Bill’s preview from yesterday.

SCOTS – Soul City at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC 2204

Nightingale News – 9:30 Thursday at Congress Street Social Club: While this is a relatively new local project from Savannah musician Coy Campbell, their recent show with the full band including Markus Kuhlmann, Stu Harmening, and Rachel Shaner blew the crowd at The Jinx away a couple of weeks ago. Don’t miss this one, you’ll thank me later. The only hint I’ll give you is to be ready for a much larger sound than what you hear below.

PitchBlak Brass Band – 12:00 at The Jinx: This 10 piece band out of Brooklyn played to a packed house at The Jinx during Savannah Stopover in 2014, and I’m willing to bet many of those same fans will be back to hear them again this year. The members bring a wide variety of musical backgrounds in to the mix, so don’t come expecting to hear your typical brass band.

That’s it for today, check back tomorrow for three Friday picks.