Double Barrel Benefit 7 presents: The Light Pines

Go ahead and set every clock in arm's reach thirteen minutes fast.  This is the necessary preparation for the first night of Double Barrel Benefit 7.  Thirteen minutes will allot for an extra two minutes to get out the door, seven minutes to figure out that the best parking place is in the City of Raleigh parking deck on Wilmington Street, and four minutes to grab a sweet spot for the first band --Chapel Hill's The Light Pines.  The six-piece will kick off Friday night at The Pour House and will serve both as  the opening band of the night and the first performance of the two day mini-mecca of local music.  It could, perhaps, be thought of as intimidating, being first in two senses, rather though, it should be deemed cherished.  Especially after last year's opening act, Lonnie Walker, took the opportunity to ramp their buzz in the following year and create quite a stir in the local music scene.

The Light Pines is a band of familiar faces.  It is the project of the bassist for The Love Language, Josh Pope.  The members have shifted since its incarnation over two years ago, but the current line-up is an assembly of long time locals, including Love Language members Kate Thompson on keyboard and vocals and Tom Simpson on drums, as well as three members from Max Indian: Carter Gaj on guitar and vocals, James Wallace on keyboard and vocals, and Ryan Gustafson on guitar and vocals.

The 24-track EP that was recorded in rehearsal spaces, bedrooms and living rooms across Raleigh was made available eight months ago (no official release yet).  It has started to circulate and create quite a stir, including earning them a spot at MusicFest NW in Portland, Oregon in which the band received an instant label offer post-performance. However, DBB wil be the band's first Raleigh performance, and one of the very limited Triangle performances to date so far.  This is a video from a December performance at Chapel Hill's Local 506.



The sound that The Light Pines creates is built on a foundation of lo-fi pop but it flares into realms of mysticism and fantasy that at times can feel eerie.  The collection of songs is like a maze of mirrors that serves as the entrance to a grand party hosted by Jay Gatsby.  In order to attend the party the guest must wind their way through the complex pathways of of twisted, tilted, and manipulated mirrors all while listening to infectious, slightly fuzzy, and undeniably catchy music.  Pope explained that the inspiration for the sound of The Light Pines came from the adolescent excitement of perhaps the best holiday of the year, Halloween,

"Do you remember what it was like being 8-years-old on Halloween?  Before you came to appreciate it is as an adult?  On that day, as a kid, there is so much excitement and mystery and this overall darkness to everything.  That's what I want it to feel like when listening to the Light Pines," Pope said.

Keep an ear to The Light Pines.  With The Love Language wrapping up recording at Flying Tiger Sound in the next month and half, The Light Pines are planning on recording for an official release and ramping up their show dates in the months to come in 2010.  Who knows, maybe the Triangle will see the best Halloween party to date, hosted by The Light Pines.

The Light Pines will take the stage for night one of Double Barrel Benefit 7 on Friday, February 5 at The Pour House followed by Veelee, Bellafea, and Max Indian.

For the complete Double Barrel schedule and ticket information, click here.

Hear Here Photo Slideshow

Photographs by Matt Moore from the Hear Here finale Oct. 3, 2009. All photographs (C) 2009 NCSU Student Media.

Inflowential's New Music Video!

Inflowential just released a new music video for "Sheriff", their contribution for the Hear Here local music compilation.  The video was made by Jason Arthurs, and features footage of Inflowential recording at Flying Tiger Sound.  The song addresses the issue of police brutality and references the Bob Marley classic, "I Shot The Sheriff".  Check it out!



Inflowential will be playing with The Love Language and Motorskills on Saturday, October 3rd, for the Hear Here finale show at the Pour House Music Hall.  The doors open at 8pm, the show starts at 10pm, and tickets are $7.  See you out there!

An interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis

"Four weeks ago, if you were to ask me if I would be here, at Tir Na Nog, playing with Ivan Howard of the Rosebuds, and watching football, I would have said, 'No way,' but here I am," Michael Lerner said as he smiled at the crowd. His glance, the thick black rimmed glasses absent from his face, shifted from the football game on the TV in the back of the bar, across the crowd, and back to his music. He adjusted a tuner at the head of his three-fourths, formica guitar and went into the next song, "I Saw Lightning."

Four weeks ago, if you were to ask me if I would be posting an interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis a day after watching the Monday night performance from the newly formed Telekinesis lineup at Tir Na Nog, I would have said, "Well, maybe." I've learned to never eliminate fanciful ideas from the list of maybes.

A day after Michael Lerner arrived in Raleigh from Seattle, we snagged him for an interview in our WKNC studio. He is a young musician who has found love for music in his journey as a record store employee, student at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, recording studio employee and now full time musician. We sat down and talked about how the release of his self-titled debut has kept him busy, where the inspiration for those quirky fresh pop songs come from and what in the months ahead.

WKNC Interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis

Pictures From Hear Here Release Show

Last night was certainly one of the most epic local shows in the past couple of years.  Hear Here was finally released to the masses at the Cats Cradle courtesy of The Never, Hammer No More The Fingers, Birds of Avalon, and Annuals.   Below are some pictures that my shitty digital camera managed to document (my apologies for not being a professional photog, but if you want to put pictures up on our blog, please email them localmusic@wknc.org):

Thanks to all of the bands, Terpsikhore Records, Flying Tiger Sound, WKNC (specifically Mikey Perros, Mike Alston, and Jamie Lynn Gilbert), and you, the local music fans, for making last night a success!

The Never

Hammer No More The Fingers

Birds Of Avalon

Annuals

Hear Here Finale Show Line-Up Released

Its official, the Hear Here Finale Show has a lineup and a solid one it is.  Colossus, Inflowential, and the Love Language will all be playing October 3rd at the Pour House in downtown Raleigh.  Tickets are going for $7 but unlike the August 29th show in Carrboro, the compilation will not be included with the price of admission.  Copies of the album will be available for $5 once inside.

Hear Here is a local music compilation album of 17 different Triangle based artists featuring all new unreleased material sponsored by Terpsikhore Records, Flying Tiger Sound, and WKNC 88.1.  For weeks WKNC has been slowly releasing tracks over the airwaves during Local Lunch (Mon-Fri 12-1pm) and the Local Beat (Fri 5-8pm) and many local blogs have been posting leaked songs from Hear Here on the internet.

The album is set to be released this Saturday at the Cats Cradle with Annuals, The Never, Hammer No More The Fingers and Birds of Avalon bringing up the bill.  Tickets are going for $10 with a copy of the album included with admission.  Organizers plan on selling out, so go ahead and get your tickets early.

The October 3rd show in Raleigh is the finale of the compilation release.  Doors will open at 8pm with Colossus starting up at 10pm.  Inflowential and the Love Language will come on sequentially.

Hear Here CD Release Party Aug. 29 at Cat's Cradle

If you have been listening to WKNC lately, you probably know about Hear Here, a new local music compilation from Terpsikhore, Flying Tiger Sound and WKNC 88.1 FM. The 17-song CD features new tracks from Americans in France, The Beast, Birds of Avalon, Blount Harvey, Colossus, Hammer No More the Fingers, Inflowential, The Kingsbury Manx, Kooley High, Lonnie Walker, The Love Language, Motor Skills, The Never, The Old Ceremony, The Rosebuds, Static Minds and Sunfold.

Hear Here will be officially released Aug. 29 at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. The event will feature performances by Annuals, Birds of Avalon, Hammer No More the Fingers and The Never. Tickets to the release show are $10 and include a copy of the album. Proceeds from Hear Here will go to support Raleigh’s Visual Art Exchange, a non-profit dedicated to serving emerging artists. Local artist Ryan Cummings produced all of the artwork for the album, which showcases some of the Raleigh landscape.

Hear Here and its release party are going to be awesome; just ask New Raleigh, Music.MyNC and Scan.

Local Lunch and Local Beat preview 7/17/09

Exciting stuff happening on both the Local Lunch and Local Beat today.

First, the Local Lunch: our good friend BJ Burton from Flying Tiger Sound Studios is coming by to DJ with Mikey for today's Local Lunch.  He's bringing with him exclusive local tracks "that no one's ever heard before":



"Second Bird of Paradise" by The Rosebuds



"Seasons" by Lonnie Walker

I don't know exactly what Mikey and BJ's plans are, but those songs will be presented to the world for the first time during the Local Lunch today.



Then, looking ahead to the Local Beat, we'll be chatting with Shayne from The Future Kings of Nowhere about playing the Hopeline Benefit show at Tir Na Nog tonight, about moving to New York, and about some of his memories from time spent in the Triangle.  He'll be performing several new songs in studio, as well.

And, of course, we'll be spotlighting some of the AWESOME new local music that's been released locally.  Good stuff all around.