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Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 7/12-18

Here because you can’t be trusted to know where to hear the good stuff on every night of the week.

Mon – 7/12

  • Americans in France / Bandit Teeth @ The Cave – $5 (late)

Tues – 7/13

  • Twin Tigers / Lake Inferior @ Local 506 – $8

Wed – 7/14

  • Wolf Nipple Foofaraw (aka bring your instrument and join a big open form jam session) @ The Pinhook – $FREE!

Thurs – 7/15

  • Counting Crows Traveling Circus and Medicine Show featuring Augustana + more TBA @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre – $40.50-60.50

Fri – 7/16

  • One Man Band Extravaganze! with Frank Fairfield / Phil Cook (of Megafaun) / Catherine Edgerton (of Midtown Dickens) / Matt White (of Great White Jenkins) / Dan McGee (of Spider Bags) @ The Pinhook – $8
  • Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros / We Are Each Other (featuring Aaron Embry) @ Cat’s Cradle – $15 adv / $17 day of the show
  • Future Islands / Ear PWR / Nuclear Power Pants / Fat Camp @ Local 506 – $7 adv / $9 at the door

Sat – 7/17

  • The Love Language CD Release Party! with The Light Pines and Shit Horse @ Cat’s Cradle – $8 adv / $10 day of the show
  • Spider Bags / Fletcher / Last Year’s Men @ The Cave – $tba (late)
  • Juan Huevos / Menya + DJ One Duran Dance Party @ The Nightlight – $5
  • Red Collar / Death Becomes Even the Maiden / Free Electric State @ The Pinhook – $5

Sun – 7/18

  • Mary Chapin Carpenter / Garrison Starr @ DPAC – $22.50 and up

Anywhere else?

Categories
Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 7/5-11

A theoretical road map to great times all this week.

Mon – 7/5

  • Delta Spirit / David Vandervelde / The Romany Eye @ Cat’s Cradle – $10 adv / $12 day of the show

Tues – 7/6

Thurs – 7/8

  • Irata / Gray Young / Gods of Harvest / Its Just Vanity @ The Pinhook – $5
  • Stephaniesid / Cosmic Ray Liotta / Boathouse All Stars / Jar-E @ The Pour House – $5 adv / $7 at the door

Fri – 7/9

  • The Heartless Bastards / Peter Wolf Crier / The Builders & Butchers @ Cat’s Cradle – Pro-tip: Go to this show.  The Heartless Bastards are wickedly good live and Peter Wolf Crier may just be the best of what’s next (take my word for it).  $12 adv / $14 day of the show
  • David Karsten Daniels CD Release Show with Fight the Big Bull / Bright Young Things @ Local 506 – $7
  • North Elementary / It’s Just Vanity / Saint Solitude / Pointless Forest @ The Nightlight – $6

Sat – 7/10

  • New Town Drunks / Red Hot Poker Dots / Fantastico @ Local 506 – $5
  • The Weatherkings / The Julies (former members of the now defunct Violet Vector) / The Northern Howl @ The Nightlight – $5
  • Mad Tea Party / Pinche Gringo / Now You See Them @ The Cave – $5 (Late)
  • Inflowential / Urban Sophisticates with King Mez @ The Pour House – $10

Sun – 7/11

  • Teen-Beat 26th Anniversary Performance  with Unrest / True Love Always / Bossanova / MC: Patrick Bryant (Somerville Speakout) @ Cat’s Cradle – $15

Anywhere else?

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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Skylar of Skylar Gudasz and the Ugly Girls

It’s a roll of the dice to called your band mates “Ugly Girls” and swear your motto is to make music with “as few people with as many instruments as possible,” but Skylar Gudasz is unfazed.  And perhaps that’s because those ugly girls (Paul Fisher, William Taylor, and Elysse Thebner) are packing an awful lot of instruments.

With guitars, cello, banjo, keyboard, drums, flute, bass, accordian and anything else they can get their hands this crew of noisemakers carve out a sound that throws four part harmonies on top folk/jazz/rock arrangements. It’s smart pop without the smarm and it’s made by a band that’s shockingly new.  Friday night when they open for David Dondero (who NPR called one of the 10 best living songwriters) at the Nightlight, Skylar Gudasz & the Ugly Girls will be just over two months young.  Most people wouldn’t play for those stakes, but as typical, Gudasz is the gambler.  Give a listen to the tunes, though, and it’s easy to see that really the only one at risk is you if you don’t show up early enough to catch this band before word spreads and the crowds get downright hideous.

And now just you’re typical five question throwdown:

1. If your band were a play, what would it be?
The Full Monty meets Hedda Gabler. Steel workers, nudity, Russia, feminism, show tunes, guns and gunz – pretty much sums us up.

2. When did you decide to start this project?
This project decided to start us in April. The Ugly Girls as they stand now, however, didn’t start doing their thing until around early June, so we feel more like Ugly Babies at this point.

3. Describe what makes the Ugly Girls so ugly.
Unsightly birthmarks. Headgear, bunions. Resemblance to non-mammalian animals. Fungus Acne. Serendipitous Mutations. (which, incidentally, was our other band name choice). Regrettable tattoos in exposed places. Lack of depth perception. Bad Jokes…the list goes on and on.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that really surprise people?
Buena Vista Social Club – William Taylor, the guitar player, is classically trained so he can bust out those Havana solos, plus the rhythm in those recordings is astounding – every instrument and voice is exploited percussively. That’s always something I’m trying to work more on. As far as voice goes, I think I’ll stand by the Silver Jews’ assessment that all my favorite singers couldn’t sing – from David Berman himself to late Sacred Harp recordings to Bob Dylan to Tina Turner and so on and so forth, they take the technicality out and let the feel dictate flow. Lyrically and melodically, Joni Mitchell is king, king, king – her songs are like movies I can live inside of for days. Oh, and Sookie Stackhouse is an inspiration to all of us AND a fox.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how’d that turn out?)
Then, two of us wanted to be musicians. One of us wanted to be a school bus driver. One of us wanted to be an astronaut, pirate, actress, Peter Pan, or a scientist who lived in Antartica (but especially an astronaut).

Now, four of us are musicians. Three of us are/have been baristas, and one of us is in school getting ready for a Real Job. All of us are pirates.

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Get ugly with Skylar and company this Friday at the Nightlight. And by all means, give Skylar a high five when you see her!

Categories
Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 6/28-7/4

Beat the heat with some musical fun. Here are a few places to find it.

Mon – 6/28

  • Frontier Ruckus  / Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers @ Berkeley Café – $10

Tues – 6/29

  • Thrice / Kevin Divine / Bad Veins / The Dig @ Cat’s Cradle – $19 adv / $22 day of the show

Wed – 6/30

Thurs – 7/1

  • We Landed on the Moon / Gift Horse/ The Pneurotics @ Local 506 – $8

Fri – 7/2

  • Islands / Steel Phantoms / Active Child @ Cat’s Cradle – $10 adv / $12 day of the show
  • David Dondero / Ye Olde Shoppe / Skylar Gudasz & The Ugly Girls @ The Nightlight – $6

Sat – 7/3

  • Shipwrecker / Filthy Bird / Homoticons @ The Pinhook – $5
  • Weese-Fest 31 with Red Collar / The T’s / Left Outlet / Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls / J Chris Smith & Marc Smith / Magic Mike @ The Pour House – $10 adv ($20 for a 3 day pass for Thurs/Fri/Sat)

Sun – 7/4

  • 9th Annual Evil Wiener Wiener Roast featuring Evil Wiener + Special Guest TBA @ The Cave – $TBA
  • 4th of July Heavy Metal Throwdown! Heavy Metal BBQ! featuring MAKE / Bezoar / Wizardry / Hog @ The Nightlight – $TBA (starts at 3 p.m.)

Anywhere else?

Categories
Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Mark Weems and Julee Glaub of Little Windows

Mark Weems and Julee Glaub pair their instrumental knack and vocal harmony with the traditions that own their hearts to create the sound of Little Windows.  With compositions that range from Appalachian to Celtic to Gospel to Country to Folk, this duet translates traditional fare for a modern audience.

Whatever the tune, the couple performs with passion and it’s that ardor that’s garnered them attention from listeners and media (namely, the NPR circuit’s Thistle & Shamrock and The State of Things) alike.  Their zeal for the music has also inspired them to start the brand new North Carolina School of Traditional Music.  There they share their knowledge of things like instrumental techniques, singing methods and songwriting to spur a new generation of love for the old music that so infects their lives.  And you can catch Little Windows, along with a few of the school’s brightest stars at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro this Saturday, June 26th.

And now just five big questions for the Little Windows:

1 .If your band were a gadget, what would it be?

Mark – My grandfather’s pocket watch. You know… the one he kept because his father had passed it on to him. He just liked the old thing, the way it looked, and the way it felt in his pocket, despite the fact that he could have worn a more modern wrist watch.
Julee – My mom’s music box that I play now for our baby. It plays a song she used to sing to me and now I get to play it for my child, thus carrying on its tradition.

2. What made the two of your decide to join forces and meld your two backgrounds?

Mark – For me it was the intimate, spiritual beauty of how our voices melted together, a unique sound blending, like nothing else out there. My pioneer nature forced its exploration. Also my Appalachian and Country and her Irish came together as naturally as two lost peas separated from the same musical pod. Why fight the harmony of the universe?

Julee – It was an unstoppable force and a perfect fit. There was no denying the beauty that came about with the mingling of our voices. We met at a time in my life when I had begun to connect my Irish songs with the Appalachian roots of North Carolina where I grew up. It was a perfect time to meet someone who was as steeped in the Appalachia and Country traditions as I was in the Irish and Gospel.

3. Describe the hope you have for the North Carolina School of Traditional Music.

We want to create a truly local, grassrootsy kind of school that would foster the growth of the Celtic, Appalachian, and Country musical traditions of our state. Our hope is that through our offerings of lessons, teaching weeks, camps, workshops, house concerts, song circles, school programs etc. many people will take notice of and interest in North Carolina’s musical traditions and also have an opportunity to participate in them. Everyone should play and sing regardless of skill level – it’s deeply humanizing, cathartic, and spiritual.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

Mark – Marcus Aurelius, Basho, Dostoevsky, Matisse, Tarkovsky, Arvo Part, John Cohen, Pete Sutherland, John Hartford
Julee – Katharine Hepburn, Roscoe Holcombe, WB Yeats, the Psalms, Dolores Keene, Tommy Peoples

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how’d that turn out?)

Mark – A comic book artist or a monk. Or maybe a monk comic book artist. Quit art school and later got married!
Julee – Actually I dreamed of being a singer, practicing singing into a hairbrush at age seven!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Join Little Windows for a NC School of Traditional Music Night at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro this Saturday. And by all means, give Mark and Julee a high five when you see them!

Categories
Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 6/21-27

A few reasons to get out of the house and into the mix.

Mon – 6/21

  • Li(f)e on the Road Tour: Sage Francis / Free Moral Agents / B. Doaln @ Cat’s Cradle – $18 adv / $20 day of the show

Tues – 6/22

Wed – 6/23

Thurs – 6/24

  • Red Collar / The Baker Family / Wood Ear @Local 506 – $6
  • The First Halloween Costume Party of the Year featuring Up the Down Escalator / Pistil / The Spring Collection @ The Pinhook – $5

Fri – 6/25

  • Jill Andrews / Gambling the Mus @ Local 506 – $9
  • North Elementary / Owl Laws / Michael Hollands @ The Cave – $TBA (late)
  • The New Pornographers / The Dodos / The Duchess & The Duke @ Memorial Hall, UNC-Chapel Hill – This is gonna be an amazingly fun show. Mark my words and meet me there. $25-$22
  • The Tomahawks / Roadside Graves / Calico Haunts @ The Nightlight – $TBA

Sat – 6/26

  • Lizzy Ross Band CD Release Party / Puritan Rodeo / Big Al Hall & John Foniville @ Local 506 – $5 adv / $7 at the door
  • Pros and Cons / Honored Guests / Western Civ @ The Nightlight – $5

Sun – 6/27

  • Caltrop / Black Skies / Hog @ Local 506 – $6

Anywhere else?

Categories
Arts & Music

Gimme Five! John Harrison of North Elementary

north elementary photo by by Daniel CostonAfter spending most of the early nineties recording ambling melodies and random sounds on a boom box in his bedroom, John Harrison got his hands on a 4-track.  The device allowed him the newfound ability to meld songs and noises into layered compositions.  The result was experimental, a whim.  It was also a sonic epiphany for Harrison that eventually led to the stylistic center of North Elementary, a band whose music bursts with noise collage embellishment and power pop cheer.

Nowadays, North Elementary functions as much as a “musical collective” as anything.  Harrison is ever the adept and amused lead songwriter, but he shares creative control with an imitable crew made up of Chad AC (drums), Jimmy Thompson (bass), Betty Rupp (keyboard/vox), and Sean Parker (guitar/vox).  With five records (Out of Phase, Lose Your Favorite Things, Berandals, Lovesday Dead Down, & Not For Everyone Just for You) and a 7” project ( the Weeble Wobble Sound Series) wrapped and a new full length on the way, North Elementary has no intention of slowing down, but you should probably take this opportunity to catch up.  See North Elementary along with Inspector 22 and The Wild Complete at The Reservoir this Tuesday, June 22nd.

And now just five quizzical questions of the principal of North E:

1. If your band were a planet, which would it be?

Uranus – hahahahaha…that never gets old

2. When was the moment you first thought music was something you might like to try?

I’ve always been interested in sound…..first by listening to the radio and wondering where it was all coming from….. and then by recording things on an old tape recorder …..like the birds outside, cars going by and things like that.  I was attracted to drums at first….I wanted to make those sounds and I guess when you do that you are wanting to become a musician…..that’s how it all started.  I liked sounds and wanted to know how to make them….I still do that.

3. Describe the way your visual art and your music shape each other.

They both come from a similar place. A need to create something that wasn’t there before.   If I get tired or bored of myself in one medium I can change up the tools and ways to output my thoughts and ideas instead of just not creating.  Using both mediums gives me a way to still be creating when a musical or visual art lull arrives.  I get musical ideas while painting or screen printing – I certainly listen to a lot of music while do it.  On the flipside – I like view sounds as you would view color…..I like to create so it gives me another way to do so.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

"This Way" by John Harrison

Hmmmm….not sure how surprising it would be but some of the first music I heard and was played around me in a live setting where southern Baptist hymns…..I still like the melodies in those songs such as “nothing but the blood” and “that old rugged cross.” The songs have deep meaning and an obvious redemption quality –– I like the weight they carried – they seemed very important.

I like really like the soundtrack to RENT.  I listen to it every year when I drive to St Louis at Christmas time.  The production and some of the lyrics are over the top but most every song is pretty good and many are downright brilliant…..

The Beastie Boys – I think they are a creative force for good – from my purchase of “License to Ill” in the 8th grade to watching the awesome Scott Walker documentary released by their production company Oscilloscope Laboratories last year I always check in to see what is up with them.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how’d that turn out?)

I first wanted to be a garbage man.  It looked like fun to ride on the outside of the truck and compact all the garbage.  I used to wait for them in the summer so I could watch them compact it……sometimes they let me pull the lever.  This dream died once I realized how early you had to get up.  Once that dream died I dreamed of being a backup number two guard for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA…..this did not turn out good.

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Follow your feet over to The Reservoir this Tuesday to catch North Elementary live. And by all means, give John a high five when you see him!

Categories
Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 6/14-20

Here because you can’t be counted on to know where to find good music every night of the week.

Tues – 6/15

Wed – 6/16

  • Tori Sparks / Skylar Gudasz and The Ugly Girls @ Local 506 – $7 adv / $8 at the door

Thurs – 6/17

  • A musical benefit for the Eastern NC Chapter of the National MS Society featuring The Sundowners / Mount Moriah / Whiskey Smugglers / Mandolin Orange / Last of the Great Sideshow Freaks @ Cat’s Cradle – $7
  • Dasan Ahanu / Aden / Lizh / Uprite Lions @ The Pinhook – $5
  • Holy Ghost Tent Revival / Onward, Soldiers / Nick and the Babes @ The Pour House – $8

Fri – 6/18

  • Thao & Mirah with The Most of All / These United States @ Local 506 – $10 adv / $12 at the door
  • The Honeycutters @ The Cave – $5 (early)

Sat – 6/19

  • Ryan Gustafson / Twelve Thousand Armies / Old Bricks @ Local 506 – $7 adv / $8 at the door
  • Killer Filler / Phatlynx @ The Cave – $TBA

Sun – 6/20

  • Chaka Kahn @ DPAC – $37.50 and up

Anywhere else?

Categories
Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Zach Terry of The Whiskey Smugglers

the whiskey smugglers
photo by Audrey Hill

As much a wonderful product of the local scene as their own musical proclivities, The Whiskey Smugglers are a ragtag group of players bent on bringing their own brand country stomp to the Triangle.  Band members Zach Terry, Katie Hayes, Sean Hayes, David Wilson, Lee Bidgood, Emily Bidgood, Bruce Horvath, Tim Stambaugh, and Rhett Miller combine the force of their talent to create wistful americana music.  Part honky-tonk, part string-band, part down-home orchestra, they are, if nothing else, all heart.

With a full length under their belt (2009’s Clear Strong Dreams) and a good habit of playing locally, there are plenty of chances for you to tap into the world of The Whiskey Smugglers,  but you should really consider trekking over to the Cat’s Cradle Thursday, June 17th. That night they’ll join forces with a host of other notable local bands (Mount Moriah and Mandolin Orange among them) to raise money for the Eastern NC Chapter of the National MS Society. Great music and a great cause, what’s more to say?

And now the five hardest questions in faux business:

1. If your band were a whiskey drink, what would it be?

photo by Jordan Lawrence

We get this question here and there because of our name.  A few of us take pleasure in carrying around a flask because it’s cheaper than buying it at the bars, so I think that’s where the name came from.  Those flasks usually have the cheap kind of whiskey in it, or from time to time the homemade kind.  I guess we’d probably just be cheap whiskey on the rocks though

2. What compelled you to start the band?

Our band started kind of organically, as a product of the Carrboro community.   The majority of us were all neighbors, at a little duplex community we’ve lovingly come to refer to as “The Compound,” due to its stunning visual appeal.  We met Bruce at Weaver Street one night, very late, while we were playing guitars.  Anyway, we all became good friends, and realized that we played different instruments but had very similar interest in music.  We started playing for fun, and because we really enjoyed each other’s company.  We realized that we had a lot of original songs between us and started focusing on those.  Our friends mostly inspired us to play a onetime gig so Mouse booked us at the Cave on a Saturday night.  We figured our friends would show, but were really surprised to find the place maxed out when it came time to play that night.  That first show was a blast, so we decided to do another one, and it has just progressed from there.  If it wasn’t for our friends and the feedback we received from the community, I doubt we’d still be playing shows.  We’d probably still just be hanging out at the compound, picking in the parking lot.  Regardless, I think the whole thing just reiterates what a great local music scene, and supportive community we’ve got here in the Triangle, and we are extremely thankful for that

3. Describe what it’s like to play in a large ensemble.

It’s pretty awesome.  We’re all great friends, and we really have fun hearing each other’s ideas and listening to them become a reality.  It’s also great having a bunch of people b/c if I miss a chord b/c I’ve had too much to drink and get confused, there’s four to five other people there to hit the right one, and most of the time no one in the audience will pick up on it.  We can do a lot with the multiple layers throughout each song, and change the structure from show to show as well, so the audience doesn’t hear the exact same song at every show.  Another benefit is that if one person can’t make a show then we don’t have to cancel it, because we’ve got enough people to sing the harmonies and take the breaks.  It’s not all dreamy though.  We’ve definitely had issues here and there.  Scheduling practice around seven people’s hectic schedules is probably the most frustrating thing, but all in all we’re just a big group of laid back folks who like to play music.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

This is a hard question for me to answer.  If I listen to our music I hear a lot of Bluegrass, Southern Rock, Alt-Country, Rock and Roll, and Classic Country influences in there.  I can’t really say that one particular artist or band has directly influenced us though.  Most of my inspiration for writing comes from either actual events that have happened, or fictional ideas that spark from a real-life occurance.  If my songs were movies they would start like Anchorman…….”The following is based on actual events. Only the names, locations, and events have been changed.”  I like to tell fish stories, a lot, and I see that in my songs.  The musical structure though, is definitely influenced by all of the members in the band.  We’ve got a lot of similar taste, but still have a very diverse musical background.  Long story short, we influence each other.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how ’d that turn out?)

A cowboy, for sure!  I’ve never really thought about the reason until just now, but I guess it’s because when I was in 2nd grade I un-knowingly was the star of a Tweetsie Railroad commercial that Blowing Rock elementary was recruited to do.  They pulled me aside out of the group and had me do all these poses and made me walk here and there and point at random things.  I literally had no idea they were filming me doing this, but I thought the entire thing was funny as hell, so I went along with it.  A month or so after that the commercial came out and I was totally surprised that I was in it a bunch.  They never paid me for it, but I got discounted season passes for something like five years after that.  I was able to ride on the steam engine anytime I wanted, and pull the whistle.  Mom would drop me off there in the summer, almost like daycare.  We didn’t have too much money, so dropping me off there was cheaper than daycare I guess.  Anyway I’d watch the cowboys fight each other and the train was always getting robbed and as a seven year old it was pretty bad ass!  I definitely developed a cowboy ego.  When I wasn’t at the trains I was running around in the woods pretending to rob trains and things like that.  At that time in my life all I wanted to do was be a cowboy at Tweetsie when I grew up.  That never happened, and I later found out that all the hired guns at Tweetsie were always getting in trouble for being wasted on the job and smoking the peace pipe at the fort.  It’s funny how our realizations and perceptions change as we get older.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Experience The Whiskey Smugglers in action at the Cat’s Cradle this Thursday, June 17th. And by all means, give Zach a high five when you see him!

Categories
Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 6/7-13

Here to confuse you about where you should be on Friday and Saturday night. I mean, really.

Tues – 6/8

  • Puritan Rodeo / Morning Bell / Vince Williams @ The Pinhook – $TBA
  • Native / This Town Needs Guns / Bronzed Chorus @ Local 506 – $7 adv / $8 at the door

Wed – 6/9

  • Bob Schneider / Smile Smile @ The Pour House – $15 adv / $18 day of the show

Thurs – 6/10

  • 5:40 Summer Music Series: Jonathan Byrd @ 54 East – $FREE!

Fri – 6/11

  • Amy Cook / Birds & Arrows @ Local 506 – $8 adv / $10 at the door
  • Monologue Bombs / Reid Johnson (of Schooner) / Maria Albani (of Organos) / The Tourists @ Jessee’s – $FREE!
  • Ingrid Michaelson / Matt Morris @ Lincoln Theatre – $14 adv / $17 day of the show
  • Drughorse Collective Presents: The Light Pines / Veelee / Old Bricks @ The Pour House – $8

Sat – 6/12

  • Dexter Romweber & The New Romans / Countdown Quartet @ Local 506 – $7 adv / $8 at the door
  • Wembley / Shipwrecker @ The Cave – $TBA
  • Transportation / North Elementary / Blag’ard @ The Nightlight – $5
  • Caltrop / In the Year of the Pig / Ruscha @ The Pinhook – $5
  • Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek) / Actual Proof (9th Wonder’s group) / DJ BRORABB @ Lincoln Theatre – $20 adv / $25 day of the show
  • Drug Horse Collective Presents: Max Indian / Ryan Gustafson / Bright Young Things @ The Pour House – $8

Anywhere else?

Categories
Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Laura King of The Moaners

Melissa Swingle never met a slide guitar solo she didn’t like.  Fortunately, she also took a shine to Laura King. After Swingle’s Trailer Bride hit the rocks, it was King she called on to join in a new project and together the two women set off to produce some of the most interesting and earnest indie-blues this side of the Mississippi.  As The Moaners, the women balance a fair share of trance inducing guitar riffs and clamoring drum bursts, tossing in an occasional singing saw break to create a sound-scape as dense as it is startlingly simple.

Not satisfied to rest on the laurels of their critic-and-crowd-pleasing  past releases (2005’s Dark Snack and 2007’s Blackwing Yalobusha) the women have tackled the road gaining fans across the country and spent time readying new tracks for this fall’s much anticipated Nocturnal.  Though the uncertain release date for a new record will leave more than a few people groaning, the opportunity to catch The Moaners along with Pinche Gringo and Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs at The Cave this Saturday is nothing to moan about.

Now just five over-serious questions for the lady keeping the beat:

1. If your band were a historical event, what would it be?

The French Revolution…we like to make heads roll.

2. What made you pick the band name? Why “Moaners”?

When we first started playing music together we had no lyrics, and when we listened back to band practices all we could hear were moans.

3. Describe your typical band practice experience.

We set up in the kitchen and hash it out.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

Chopin, Black Sabbath, Bessie Smith, The Monkees, Django Reinhardt, Flaming Lips, and many more.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how ’d that turn out?)

Melissa wanted to be an Indian Brave and declare war on the white men. Then she grew boobies and couldn’t go shirtless anymore like Indian Braves do. And she realized she was white. It didn’t turn out well.

Laura has always wanted to be a musician writing her first song at age 5 called “My Baby.” It’s working out well.

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Ramble over to The Cave this Saturday to hear The Moaners in action. And by all means, give Laura a high five when you see her!