WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit X Night Two Photo Slideshow

WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit X Night One Photo Slideshow

Playlist: A Guide to DBBX

Double Barrel Benefit 10 is quickly approaching. If you haven't had time to check out the bands yet, I have made a Spotify playlist that includes a couple of my favorite songs from each band (except for The Lollipops and Some Army who are not on Spotify). So please check them out so you can sing along with us at Double Barrel this weekend. As always, tune in to 88.1 WKNC to hear these artists as well as other great artists all day.

Check out the playlist here!


Here are the songs in the playlist in addition to some songs you should check out by the artists who are not on Spotify.

Night 1
Wolves by The Lollipops
I Love You by The Lollipops
Teenage Lions by Jenny Besetzt
Always by Jenny Besetzt
Rise by Lilac Shadows
Bloodworth by Lilac Shadows
I'll Survive by JKutchma and the Five Fifths
There's a Light on by JKutchma and the the Five Fifths

Night 2
Open Wide by Oulipo
Build It Up by Oulipo
Servant Tires by Some Army
We've Been Lucky by Some Army
Crying Only Counts the First Time by Wesley Wolfe
Crying/Laughing by Wesley Wolfe
Friday Night by Spider Bags
Simona La Ramona

Free Bus From Durham to Double Barrel Benefit

The Bridge Bus, a nighttime shuttle connecting Durham and Raleigh, will be offering FREE rides both to and from Double Barrel Benefit for all our listeners who would rather not make the drive. While normally at a minor expense, The Bridge Bus has graciously offered their services to WKNC to help ensure that every listener who wants to attend Double Barrel can make it. In order to ride the bus for free you'll need to present your ticket to that night of Double Barrel Benefit when you board. It's all the incentive to buy your ticket in advance! The bus picks up from locations in Durham and will take them directly to the Pour House Music Hall. For the complete schedule, please see below.

Don't forget that you can purchase your tickets to DBB 10 here!

Motorco/Fullsteam (Durham)

5:50 pm

8:00 pm

10:30 pm

1:00 am

James Joyce/Federal (Durham)

6:00 pm

8:40 pm

10:40 pm

1:10 am

Pour House Music Hall (Raleigh)

6:50 pm

8:40 pm

11:10 pm

2:05 am

Double Barrel Benefit 10 Artists Announcement Coming January 4

We here at WKNC are incredibly excited about the tenth anniversary to our Double Barrel Benefit series, our biggest fundraiser of the year. Each year, we ask artists from all over the area if they are available to help us by providing the triangle with two nights of amazing music. This year will be no different. Double Barrel Benefit is set to take place February 1 and 2 at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh, and we would like to invite everyone to come, enjoy some amazing music, and help us stay afloat for another year.

For those anticipating who will be playing this year (get excited, I've seen the lineup, and it looks awesome), we will be doing an official rundown of all eight artists this year during the Local Lunch on January 4. Mark your calendars! Join us from Noon until 1 p.m. on January 4 to celebrate the awesome artists that are playing this year's event.

Special Recognition Local Lunch, May 18

It is with a heavy heart that I relinquish my title as general manager of  WKNC on May 20. My tenure as general manager would not have been made possible without the advice, positive reinforcement, and generosity of my fellow staff members, advisors, and the community at large.  I am certain that DJ Ones, the next general manager at WKNC, will continue to make WKNC the best radio station in the world.

I want to take the last local lunch shift of my time here at WKNC to thank all of the amazing local bands who have helped me and WKNC out throughout this past year.

These are the bands that played shows like Double Barrel Benefit and related Day Party, Fridays on the Lawn, small concerts that may or may not have been successful, and the birthday party. These amazing members of our community donated their time and their talent to WKNC and deserve to be recognized.

This local music scene and related community has made my job worthwhile. There will be airbreaks full of reminiscing, shout outs, and gratitude.

Tune in for the grateful local lunch, Friday May 18 starting early at 11:30 a.m. and going until 1 p.m.



 

DBB9 Band Spotlight: Gross Ghost

Double Barrel Benefit 9 is coming up this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4, and oh my is it going to be something wonderful.  Filled with an eclectic mix of local talent spanned across two nights, The Pour House is going to be housing one of the finest locally-grown lineups of the year,  including The Kingsbury Manx, The Future Kings of Nowhere, Organos, MAKE and more.  Night Two in particular boats some of the Triangle's most exciting and swiftly rising bands, especially Gross Ghost.

Gross Ghost is a four-piece band based out of Chapel Hill with a mesmerizing sound.  While the instrumentation is usually full of driving rhythms that are tinged with surf-punk vibes, the vocal melodies are infectious and perfectly contrast the fast-paced frenetic indie-punk soundscape.  Gross Ghost took the state by storm last year with two incredible EP's, Lip City and Wicked Game, leaving fans anxiously awaiting their upcoming LP Brer Rabbit, which is to be released early this year.

Gross Ghost's Grip Tapes label mate Heads on Sticks will also be playing Double Barrel Benefit on Saturday night, along with Naked Gods and The Kingsbury Manx.  Tickets for one night are $10 in advance while tickets for both nights are $15 in advance.  Under 21 is subject to a $5 cover charge.

DBB9 Band Spotlight: Heads on Sticks

DBB9 Lineup Release 1/13/12

Double Barrel Benefit 9 will be Feb. 3 and 4 at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh.
Each night will feature four great local bands. Who, you ask? Tune in to the Local Lunch Friday, Jan. 13, to find out!

Tickets are available online and will soon be available at Schoolkids Records and Bull City Records.

 

To follow all things Double Barrel, use the hashtag #DBB9 and check out the facebook event.

Stay tuned for a comprehensive look at the ninth annual DBB, coming next week!

And of course, set your radio to 88.1 or listen online at noon Jan. 13!

Double Barrel Benefit 9 Poster Design Contest

Double Barrel Benefit, WKNC's two-night benefit concert, is just around the corner. In order spice things up, we are taking after POSTERscotch and holding a poster design contest!

Artists can submit their work by Dec. 31 to be publicly voted on. The top five submissions will be printed and sold at the event. The winning artists will receive a pair of tickets to DBB9, a DBB9 t-shirt, a copy of their work, and their work will be featured on the WKNC homepage for two weeks.

Rules:

• No fee to enter


• Must contain the WKNC Logo


• 300 dpi, CMYK in high-res pdf or jpeg format


• Suggested Dimensions: 11x14 or 11x17


• Must be original work, and no more than two entries per person


• Submit your work to gm(at)wknc.org by Dec. 31 at midnight with the subject line “DBB9 Poster Competition”


• Designs will be voted on publicly at www.wknc.org/dbb9 from Jan. 5-13

Good luck!

Double Barrel Benefit #8 Compilation CD

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 2/8/11, written by DJ Switch, WKNC deejay

You never think your kid's ugly. Well, at least you never tell your kid you think they're ugly. My parents never did. They did say I have a face for radio, but I never quite got what that meant. Either way, there's no need to lie about the beauty of WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit compilation, because even though the student radio station put it together, it's a handsome piece of local music by all objective accounts. Recorded mostly in Caldwell Hall, this album was passed out to the crowd at 88.1's annual benefit concert as they watched those very same bands bring down the house.

Showing the diversity of Raleigh's music scene right off the bat is rapper Inflowential's "Wherever." It has a cheerful rhythm that reminds of Sugar Ray. As soon as you're swaying to that, he slips in nonchalantly and starts commanding a pitter-patter of rhymes. Inflowential has an easy mastery of words like Nas or Jay Z, but with none of the intimidating lyrics.

Kid Future has some seriously artful song lyrics, such as "you were born with no blood, wind in your veins," and the Old Ceremony has that simple beauty that you used to only be able to find in Bob Dylan or James Taylor songs.

Luego are students of the Guthrie school of folk rock, but, like Blitzen Trapper, they bring their modern indie rock sensibilities to give it a modern twist. Don't let the song title fool you, "California" is an ode to the good old North State, done right by a group of native musicians with true Carolina accents.

Cassis Orange easily became one of my new favorite bands with their contribution, "May, June, July." Now, normally I don't like dance music. I think this aversion stems from a childhood of getting rejected by girls at the middle school dances -- and an adulthood of getting rejected by some of those same girls at college parties -- but this track made me forget all that entirely. It's sort of like a mellowed-out Madonna, but not so dancey that it loses its beautiful, trippy melody and its mature songwriting.

Yardwork makes order out of chaos with "Hot Balloons." The guitar solos seem to climb around the impassioned vocals like ivy, wrapping over the pounding snares in an effort to quell this eminent crescendo of emotion. Bright Young Things is a sort of happy hodgepodge resembling something like Kula Shaker or maybe even an experimental-era Beatles.

Like their name, Hammer No More the Fingers is something both indescribable and obvious. You can't pin down exactly what it is that works for this band, but you know that it works— and "Blanko Basnet" definitely works. The vocals are some of the most unique I've ever heard. They have a slight adolescent twill, but still retain the power and resonance to howl above the rich intensity of the song.

No lie, this compilation is beautiful. Me, on the other hand—that might be another story.

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week is published in every Friday in the print edition of Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.

Double Barrel Benefit compilations available at Schoolkids, Bull City Records

There's still time to get your own little piece of Double Barrel Benefit 8, while also supporting your local independent record store!

Compilations are $7, and are now available at Schoolkids Records in Raleigh and Bull City Records in Durham.

WKNC DBB 8 Compilation:
1. "Wherever" Inflowential
2. "Like a Camera" Kid Future
3. "Day That I Was Born" The Old Ceremony
4. "California" Luego
5. "May, June, July" Cassis Orange
6. "Hot Balloons" Yardwork
7. "King of Fools" Bright Young Things
8. "Blanko Basnet" Hammer No More the Fingers

Tracks 1-7 were engineered and mixed by WKNC staff, under the direction of WKNC Sessions Director Eric Scholz, in Caldwell Lounge on the campus of N.C. State University; track 8 was engineered and mixed by Pete Kimosh; all tracks were mastered by Kitchen Mastering in Carrboro, NC, and CD duplication was provided by Triangle Duplication Services in Raleigh, NC.

Double Barrel Benefit 8: Night Two Photos

Double Barrel Benefit 8: Night One Photos

A few giveaways, many genres

We have a few giveaways for this first week of February:

You can see Monotonix at King's in Raleigh on Feb. 3. This Israeli garage rock band on Drag City Records has toured in the past with Dinosaur Jr. and Silver Jews.

Deerhoof is playing at King's in downtown Raleigh on Feb. 6. They have been noted as influencing bands like Sleigh Bells, Dirty Projectors, Of Montreal, St. Vincent, and Sufjan Stevens.

If you're a metal head, you could win tickets to Bull City Metal Fest featuring Caltrop, US Christmas, Colossus, In The Year of the Pig, and much more. This two day event will be at Casbah in Durham on the fourth and fifth of February.

If you're looking for some more great shows, be sure to check out the rock report, and pay close attention to Double Barrel Benefit 8 this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4 and 5 at King's.

Remember, you have to listen to win!

Lineup for Night Two of Double Barrel Benefit 8!

Night two of Double Barrel Benefit 8 features Kid Future, HaLo, King Mez, Yardwork and Hammer No More the Fingers.



Kid Future
(Kieran Moreira, WKNC Program Director)
Kid Future could possibly be one of Raleigh’s best kept secrets. The indie band maintains a low profile online only featuring one of their recorded tracks. However, it can only be a matter of time before their talent betrays their anonymity. After catching them at a packed Slims Downtown in July and seeing them perform at Hopscotch in front of Raleigh Times, it’s clear that Kid Future has a knack for mesmerizing audiences. What’s to be expected from their performance? Dreamy synth sounds mixed with frontman Bryan Costello’s moody voice creates a recipe that is very reminiscent of the National and the Killers.



HaLo
(Tommy Anderson, WKNC General Manager)
Ahem, that's "hah-low," or "Mr. Ben Ready" to you, good sir.  This guy is witty, upbeat, and dare I say funky hip hop out of Raleigh. HaLo is connected with 9th Wonder, and he appears on Kooley High's much acclaimed recent album Eastern Standard Time. This gentleman has already developed a name in the area and beyond (he's also got one Local Beer Local Band under his belt.) Request his stuff on WKNC during Local Lunch and Underground. Fantastic stuff.

King Mez
(Tommy Anderson, WKNC General Manager)
What can you say? If you were fortunate enough to catch any of King Mez's performances in the area (or elsewhere), you know what an energetic, committed show he is able to put on. Street-wise lyrics, lush beats (provided by Commissioner Gordon on his most recent release "The Parapalegics" ), and a style that is all his own, King Mez is unforgettable and singularly compelling. As with HaLo, request this during Local Lunch as well as Underground. We're very very excited to have King Mez on board making night two that much more of a treat for anyone lucky enough to get a ticket.



Yardwork
(Nicole Kligerman, WKNC Local Music Director)
Hailing from Charlotte, NC, Yardwork is described as playing “South Eastern Minimalist Pop/Prog." No matter what you call this band’s music, it is awesome, and those who have seen this band live know that this will not be a show to miss. Complete with a large and eclectic cast skilled in multiple instruments, this group puts on a kaleidoscopic show that will entertain your eyes as well as your ears. Usually working with two simultaneous percussionists, the sound is so rich and deep that you'll find a completely new array to look for in each song.

There isn’t a lot known about Yardwork, and the biography on the band’s Myspace is a story including feral, mutant school teachers and PV rays. Whatever the history of the band, the music they play is bad ass and great for jumping around.

Their Local Beer Local Band performance in 2010 was barely contained by the stage. The larger space at Kings should be a perfect opportunity for this helter-skelter outfit to unleash their full furry upon downtown Raleigh. I saw Yardwork for the first time at last years TRKfest and am so psyched for another chance to see the live energy at this years’ Double Barrel Benefit 8.





Hammer No More the Fingers
(Kieran Moreira, WKNC Program Director)
Possibly the coolest name for a band, Hammer No More The Fingers, hailing from Durham, are local heavy hitters with a UK tour under their belt. They’ve graced WKNC’s airwaves since 2007, so it’s only natural that they take their place as Double Barrel Benefit night two headliners. Looking For Bruce, which released in 2009, cemented the band’s success meshing a blend of quirkiness, mid-twenties male humor, rock, and pop. What’s to be expected from HNMTF at Double Barrel Benefit 8? Raw energy. Although a lot of indie artists delve into bubbly pop sounds, HNMTF tries to remain edgier and grittier with sharp guitar licks and soaring vocals. We are very excited to have these fellas on board as headliners.

Announcing: Lineup for Night One of Double Barrel Benefit 8!

Since 2004, the Double Barrel Benefit has since served as the station's primary fund raising event. As a department of a state university, NCSU Student Media consistently faces budgeting concerns (read: small budgets, which are made smaller each year). Similar fund raising efforts are absolutely integral to any non-commercial radio station, especially those that have very little in the way of guaranteed annual funding. Is that a shameless appeal? Not really, just part of the framework of the event.

What better way to secure some operating funds than to expose and promote local music? It's unarguable that the Triangle area (conveniently covered in full by WKNC's 25,000 watt transmitter atop D.H. Hill Library) is brimming with musical talent. WKNC has been a gracious actor within the local music scene for years, and helping local musicians reach their target audience (and beyond) is a major part of what we're all about.

This year, local music fans who are generous (and indeed lucky) enough to attend the Double Barrel Benefit will receive something more than just two nights of great music and the knowledge that they helped the station keep the lights on for another year. All eight acts supplied a previously unreleased track to an eight-song compilation album; seven of the eight tracks were engineered and mixed right on the N.C. State campus. Kitchen Mastering, one of the South's premier mastering facilities was responsible for the fantastic mastering work, and Triangle Duplication, located right in Raleigh, NC, provided duplication services; a free copy of this compilation is included in the $10 ticket price (buy a two night pass, get two compilations).

This year, Double Barrel Benefit 8 will take place on Friday and Saturday, February 4 and 5, at Kings in downtown Raleigh. Friday, February 4, will feature Cassis Orange, Luego, Bright Young Things and The Old Ceremony.

Cassis Orange
(Nicole Kligerman, WKNC Local Music Director)







Cassis Orange has got to be one of my favorite bands to come out of the Triangle in the past year. The poppy sweet sound is addictive, and I’m so happy about all the love this band has been receiving after the release of their Cassis Orange EP. I’m even happier about their inclusion in our Double Barrel lineup for this year.

Cassis Orange is the project of Autumn Ehinger and friends, and it's actually the name of a popular Japanese cocktail drink. Japan is quite a large source of Autumn’s inspiration for song writing as her songs are, directly or indirectly, about the time she lived in Tokyo teaching English.

When trying to describe the music of Cassis Orange, I am reminded of a trip to the candy shop or being surrounded by color on a sunny day. The music is full of lo-fi pop sounds coming from Autumn’s Casio keyboard and lyrics about love and the like. The video for “Listen Heartbeat” was even filmed with a Locopop making its way around Cameron Village. The songs have the perfect sound for any happy time, and Friday night’s DBB8 is sure to be just that.

Luego
(Adam Kincaid, host of The Local Beat)



To say Luego is a super-group is a bit of an understatement. Fronted by talented young troubadour Patrick Phelan, this band features an ever rotating cast of a who's-who of the Triangle Music Scene, all friends and contemporaries of the ever expanding congregation under the tutelage of Jeff Crawford.  The likes of Peter Holsapple, William Moose, Mark Connor, Cameron Lee, Charles Cleaver, Rob DiMauro, Will Goodyear, Stuart Robinson, Brett Harris, Nick Jaeger, Caitlin Cary, James Wallace, and Dale Baker can all claim ties to Luego in one way or another. And yet despite this massive accumulation of local music demi-gods, it is Phelan who shines through with his vibrant stage presence and catchy lyrics layered on top of craftily set lo-fi blues rock that gets your feet moving while speaking to your heart.  The latest release, Ocho, was put out just a mere eight months following the debut release of Taped Together Stories setting a prolific trend that we hope can continue.

Bright Young Things

(Tommy Anderson, WKNC General Manager)





There are several ways one could take the now-infamous tongue-in-cheek description of the BYT as "the Beatles on a bad day," but the fact remains that there is only one way to take their live show. Energetic, creative, playful, yet still down to earth, Raleigh's Bright Young Things weave their way right into the audience's consciousness. ("I feel like I've known this band my whole life, and I've been a fan the whole damn time.")

Lead guitarist Cameron Lee's searing guitar licks slide right in next to Matt Damron's crooned hooks; smooth and in-step keys along with the driving, bolstering rhythm section round out this attractive and impossible to forget outfit. The BYT are unassuming, polite, and darn catchy.

The Old Ceremony
(Adam Kincaid)





Django Haskins formed The Old Ceremony back in 2004 as a "mini-orchestra" of sorts with the aspiration of creating music that could not be composed by typical rock bands. What resulted was one of the catchiest and most sought after North Carolina groups in recent memory. After the release of their self titled debut full length the band struck a chord in the heart of music critics with their most successful output in 2007's Our One Mistake, which was listed as one of the top 100 albums of that year by Paste Magazine. Without hitting a slump the band has dropped two more sophisticated masterpieces, Walk On Thin Air and Tender Age, while continually building upon the legacy that their live shows have garnered. Behind Haskins on stage, Mark Simonsen, Daniel Hall, Gabriel Pelli, and Matt Brandau fill out the fitting pieces into an intimate yet high energy show that has yet to repeat a set-list or let an audience down. The Old Ceremony is certainly a legend in the making.

DOUBLE BARREL BENEFIT 8 RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!

For many years, WKNC has been a gracious and privileged member of the triangle music scene. The most recent edition of the Independent Weekly features a cover story detailing the ever-developing and fantastically powerful music scene in which residents of the Triangle have somehow fortunately found themselves immersed.  These periodic self-checks--just to make sure we all are on the same page with how lucky we really are in a  community such as this, are undoubtedly necessary and unarguably true.

The gradual synthesis that's at the root of it all may very well never be fully understood. We're fine with that. Let's have a party!!

WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit 8 is Friday and Saturday, February 4th and 5th at Kings in downtown Raleigh. As always, each night will feature four North Carolina bands.

Friday's lineup will be announced Monday, January 10th during the Local Lunch on WKNC, with Saturday's lineup coming during Tuesday's Local Lunch spot. Tickets will go on sale via the Kings website on January 11th.  This event has sold out in years past, and we expect this to be the case again; so get your tickets quickly, folks.

~*~*~BONUS!!~*~*~Attendees of WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit 8 will receive a free eight-song compilation album featuring an original, previously unreleased track from each of the eight bands. Seven of the eight tracks were engineered and mixed right on N.C. State's campus by WKNC's exceedingly-talented and ever-patient Sessions Director, Eric Scholz. The tracks were  mastered by Kitchen Mastering, and duplication services were provided by Triangle Duplication.

2011 marks a return to the event's original venue, though obviously not in its original space. Kings (version 1.0) hosted the first four benefits.  Upon the venue's "hibernation," as we'll call it, the folks at the Pour House welcomed the event with open arms for the next three years. Such a vibrant and enjoyable music community demands patronage to multiple venues.  Just as any fan of music should never pin him/herself to one venue, neither should an annual fundraiser concert.  As obvious as this should seem, it ought to be said that the Pour House and its folks are top notch. (Rumor has it that NEXT year's benefit will attempt to transcend venue boundaries. We'll see.)

Hope to see you all there! Stay tuned for further details!

Local Beer Local Band for June 3

WKNC and Tir Na Nog Irish Pub kick June off right with a triple billed Local Beer Local Band - Tomahawks, Monologue Bombs and Filthybird. Even if you haven't caught a show by Chapel Hill's the Tomahawks yet, you've heard from them. Two of the band's members - Nick Jaeger and Jeff Crawford - are part of Max Indian, who headlined the first night of WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit 7 and played one of our 2009-2010 Fridays on the Lawn shows. Cameron Lee and Matt Damron of Bright Young Things (also of FOTL fame) make up two more of the Tomahawks. Fifth member Charles Cleaver has worked with Luego and a few other local bands. Feel free to comment below with other band connections - the point is, these guys are some of the superstars of the North Carolina indie scene.

The Monologue Bombs call Raleigh home. Led by pianist/singer Scott Phillips, the solo act turned into a full band in November.  Filthybird represents Greensboro with what "the Folks from the Pinhook" call "kind of a cosmic americana western eastern totem spirit animal." What more can you ask for in a FREE local music showcase? Local Beer Local Band kicks off around 10 p.m. each Thursday at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub, with draft specials on North Carolina beer (may I recommend the Shotgun Betty?).

On Deck:

6/10- Goodbye Titan, The White Cascade, Starmount
6/17- Colossus, White Tiger, The Bed of Roses
6/24- Embarrassing Fruits, Whatever Brains

Local Beer Local Band for May 27

Feel free to start celebrating Memorial Day a little early with WKNC and Tir Na Nog's Local Beer Local Band. Spider Bags, who you may have seen at WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit 7, and Whatever Brains take the stage this Thursday, May 27. Independent Weekly had a great article on Spider Bags back in September 2009 if you want to know more about them.