Monthly Archives: November 2011

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion: Making their own way

By Laurence | Published: November 23, 2011

This lovely duo with a remarkable heritage (Sarah Lee is the youngest daughter of folksinger Arlo Guthrie and the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie; Johnny’s aunt is married to John Steinbeck’s youngest son) recently toured the UK, in support of their excellent Bright Examples album.

They will be back in the UK in January for a special one-off show at Celtic Connections, Glasgow on Wednesday January 25 celebrating the centenary of Woody Guthrie’s birth – ‘Woody at 100’, which will also feature Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Anders Parker, and Will Johnson. We talked to Johnny at the end of the tour, and posed a few questions for him.

Raising a family, releasing a new album, touring, a kids record…how do you fit it all in?

It’s not easy! We are very lucky to have a very supportive family. Sarah Lee’s sister Annie Guthrie has been a huge help to us…when we do tours without the girls we never do over a few weeks. We just did a month in Europe and they went with us. Olivia, our oldest, has now been overseas 6 times and just got her 2nd passport.

Your heritage—millstone or proud lineage?

My auntie Gail married Thom Steinbeck (John’s youngest son) about 16 years ago. Right around that time I moved to LA where they live. Thom became the history teacher I never had, so he is my uncle by marriage. I am proud of Thom’s work as a writer and have encouraged him over the years ….the only time it feels like a millstone is when someone thinks I am related by blood. I am not.

Posted in TVD UK | Leave a comment

Grooves Shared: Awesome Tapes
From Africa

By Mike Newman | Published: November 22, 2011

Since we’re all a tight-knit music-lovin’ community, we created this segment so that some of our good friends who are doing good things in the industry of human happiness could share the records that they’ve been diggin’ on lately.

Our first Grooves Shared comes from Awesome Tapes From Africa‘s Brian Shimkovitz, whose DJ performance at this year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in New Jersey was ranked in the top 10 overall performances by Spin Magazine. A little background on Shimkovitz’s Awesome Tapes:

Awesome Tapes From Africa began in 2006 as an mp3 blog shedding light on wonderful and obscure cassettes from the African continent. It has grown into an internationally recognized, crowd-sourced public archive and acclaimed DJ project.

Founder Brian Shimkovitz began by digitizing and blogging about cassettes he brought back from trips to West Africa and has since received tapes from fans and contributors, creating an extensive online repository for popular, traditional and folkloric musics from dozens of countries. the Guardian, the New York Times, Fader, the Wire, ArtForum, Rolling Stone, BBC Radio 6, Village Voice, and New York Magazine, among others, have hailed the project for its enthusiastic and open-armed approach to sharing otherwise hard-to-find music with listeners worldwide. In the process, numerous artists previously unheard outside their native regions have found fans via Awesome Tapes From Africa.

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The Line-Up with Arma Secreta, Christian Seay and Ingram Hill

By Charles Gray | Published: November 22, 2011

Not only is this weekend sure to stuff your face with all sorts of foods you probably wouldn’t let yourself get away with on a usual basis, but it also comes stock with an unusual amount of awesome shows here in the Bluff City.

Posted in TVD Memphis | 1 Comment

King Mez releases self-produced single “Reign”

By Eric Tullis | Published: November 22, 2011

If you look in the bottom right-hand corner of this infographic from SPIN’s recent “The Changing Face of Hip-Hop” issue, you’ll notice that the magazine places burgeoning, Raleigh rapper, King Mez in the “Working Class Rappers” branch of hip-hop’s “The New Underground.”

There’s no reason to believe that Mez would disagree with this categorization, and toward the end of the subcutaneous “Nightmares” track from his The King’s Khrysis EP—which was released earlier this year—he even makes it clear that he’s content with the toils of an aspiring hip-hop artist.

King Mez | Reign

The labor theme gets an update with “Reign”—a brand new, self-produced track, which may appear on Mez’s upcoming project, My Everlasting Zeal. Here, he addresses the work ethic, “Nothin’ that you’re distraught about would even phase me/ These instrumentals I chalk out/ You niggas lazy/ and I work like there’s no tomorrow/ If you think I’m leaving now, then you crazy.”

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TVD Ticket Giveaway: Markéta Irglová at the 9:30 Club, 11/28

By Sheki | Published: November 22, 2011

At the age of twenty-three, most of us are fresh out of college, in search of our path through life.

For Markéta Irglová, at just the tender age of eighteen, a path lead her straight to a starring role in the indie hit film, Once. She not only landed a main part, but also helped write the music for the film’s soundtrack. Success continued to follow her when she was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, “Falling Slowly,” with co-star and fellow The Swell Season bandmate Glen Hansard.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 4 Comments

TVD Live: Trampled
by Turtles at the 9:30 Club, 11/18

By Rachel Sanford | Published: November 22, 2011

Trampled by Turtles showed their Midwestern roots with crowd-pleasing tunes and easy-going onstage demeanor at 9:30 Club on Friday night.

I’m from Ohio, so I should like country music. Many friends have tried to encourage me to listen to country music over the years, but none of it has quite stuck. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at 9:30 Club on Friday night for a concert dubbed “alt-country” and I was pleasantly surprised. The performance was fairly subdued, but the musical talent on stage was unmistakable.

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The Black Friday Vinyl Giveaways: Chairlift, signed 7″

By Jon Meyers | Published: November 22, 2011

Continuing with our Record Store Day Black Friday Vinyl Giveaways, we’ll have a vinyl giveaway every day till we close for Thanksgiving! Be sure to stop by your local independent record store on Black Friday itself to pick up one of the Black Friday Special Releases—special limited edition vinyl released that day. In the meantime, enter to win one of our picks of already-released material for your lists of the nice, or if you prefer, naughty.

Our run of autographed items continues with a signed 7″ from the Brooklyn based duo, Chairlift—”Amanaemonesia” b/w “Peculiar Paradise.” Chairlift’s brand new fill length, Something hits store shelves on January 24th, but we’re hoping the giveaway and the brand new video for “Sidewalk Safari” will keep you content until then.

Posted in The TVD Storefront | 10 Comments

TVD Recommends:
Bob Seger at 1st Mariner Arena, 11/25

By Michelle Evans | Published: November 22, 2011

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band kick off the second leg of their U.S. tour this Friday at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. Baltimore is the first stop on the second leg of their U.S. tour in support of their career-spanning, 26-track collection, Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets.

With such oldie-but-goodie hits as “Turn the Page,” “Night Moves,” and “Like a Rock,” as well as new hits like “Downtown Train” and “Hey Hey Hey Hey (Going Back to Birmingham),” this show promises to have a little something for everyone. Maybe he’ll play a few of these notable hits…

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | Leave a comment

Holiday Happenings

By Jay Mazza | Published: November 22, 2011

As everyone across the land prepares for the big feast day on Thursday, local musicians and music fans are gearing up for a long weekend. The Vinyl District gives you a sneak peak at what’s happening in area clubs.

Tonight, the inventive drummer Hamid Drake (pictured) continues his local residency with a performance at the Blue Nile as part of the Open Ears Series. He is set to play in the upstairs room with Open Ears founder, the trombonist Jeff Albert.

Tomorrow night, Thanksgiving Eve, Tipitina’s has a compelling lineup that is a local supergroup of sorts. Billed as Tryptophunk (the moniker is a play on the mysterious sleep-inducing amino acid in turkey—tryptophan), the group features the bassist George Porter Jr., the keyboardist John Gros, the drummer Terrence Houston, the guitarist Brian Stoltz, and the trombonist Craig Klein. All of the players are very familiar with each other, so I suspect this will be one super jam.

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Show of the Week: North Mississippi Allstars at Minglewood Hall, 11/25 (Win Tickets!)

By Mike Jackson | Published: November 22, 2011

Still promoting their newest album Keys To The Kingdom, local (basically) neo-blues heroes North Mississippi Allstars play Minglewood Hall the day after Thanksgiving, Friday the 25th.

Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson along with long-time bassist Chris Chew have now been at it as the Allstars for 15 years, 10 of those as a full time band.

You know this band kills it live, so come see them on Friday. Previous Show of the Week and killer band Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit will open. Doors at 7pm, show at 8. Advance tickets are $20, day of show $22.

As a Thanksgiving treat – we’re giving away two tickets for the show! Just tell us what you are thankful for this year in the comments! We’ll pick a winner at 5PM tomorrow!

Posted in TVD Memphis | 16 Comments

Fonda: The Vinyl District First Date

By Special to TVD | Published: November 22, 2011

The first record I remember being obsessed with was The Muppet Show album. The way it folded out and had all the characters in it was a thing of beauty to my six-year-old eyes.

It had such classics as “Mah-Na-Mah-Na” or “Mahna Mahna” if you’re a Muppet purist and Gonzo Eats a Rubber Tire to “The Flight of The Bumble Bee.” I would play that thing over and over. It definitely formed a big piece of who I am and my sense of humor. I see in googling it, that album knocked The Beatles’ Live at the Hollywood Bowl off the #1 spot in UK—where I’m from—in 1977. The Muppets were bigger than The Beatles!

Fonda – Better Days

Speaking of which, that’s my other earliest memory of vinyl, The Beatles albums—my mum, and Wings—my dad. Seems weird to me now I type that. I guess my dad agreed with Alan Partridge “Wings – the band The Beatles could have been.”

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Pyramid Vritra: “The Story Of Marsha Lotus”

By Laurence | Published: November 22, 2011

Pyramid Vritra released his debut LP this Monday and we can’t get enough of it. Combining psychedelic arrangements with avant-garde jazz loops and brilliant rap flows, Hal Williams drags you into his world which is full of love, lust, and heartbreak. The title track ‘The Story Of Marsha Lotus’ reaches an epic fifteen minutes and is a journey through his relationship with one Marsha Lotus, which is full of ups and downs and wondrous production changes.

This Wednesday, Williams will play a very rare live show at Origami Records in Los Angeles to celebrate the release. Hitting the stage at 7pm, Hal will guide you through tracks from his debut LP as well as his various unreleased songs. Entry is free, but make sure you arrive early.

Below is the video for one of the three B-Sides ‘Blu Diamonds’ featuring appearances from various NRK members and Odd Future resident DJ and Internet singer / producer Syd Tha Kyd.

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The Black Friday
Vinyl Giveaways: Manchester Orchestra Simple Math

By Jon Meyers | Published: November 21, 2011

Our run of autographed items continues with Manchester Orchestra’s Simple Math, a LP and band that has more than its share of ardent followers here at TVD HQ.

There’s also buzz of some new developments in the Manchester Orchestra camp, and to keep yourself up to date, sign up for email updates right here.

Posted in The TVD Storefront | 10 Comments

Another Cup of
Coffee with Brandon Herrington of the Fareveller Music Fest

By Chris Milam | Published: November 21, 2011

Here’s one thing about Brandon Herrington you need to know: he founded Fareveller, a weekend-long music festival in Memphis that will celebrate its second year this March. Here’s (maybe) a more important thing about Brandon Herrington: he founded Fareveller because he loves music, and because no one else had yet.

To anyone else, creating a 4-day, multi-venue music festival from scratch would be the last conceivable way to stay active in music. To hear Brandon tell it, it was as simple as going to the store when you realize you’re out of milk. Because he’s so naturally laid-back, as Brandon talks about Fareveller—and his own background as a musician in Memphis—he honestly sounds unimpressed.

He shouldn’t be.

Enjoy Another Cup of Coffee with Brandon Herrington!

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Kevin Ray of
Walk the Moon:
The TVD Interview

By Amber Patrick | Published: November 21, 2011

Ohio natives Walk the Moon are a quirky group, to say the least. Donning facepaint, the Cincinnati foursome takes the stage with Nicholas Petricca manning the keys/lead vocals/auxiliary percussion, Kevin Ray on bass/backing vocals, Eli Maiman on guitar/backing vocals, and Sean Waugaman on set.

What’s absolutely rad about Walk the Moon is that they’ve got an indie pop sound that is backed by a complete energy surge in their live performance that instigates a dance party from the crowd. We had the opportunity to chat with bassist Kevin Ray about the band’s sound, why the bass is the best instrument, and what the band would be up to if they weren’t making music. Check it out!

What kind of music did you grow up listening to?

As a band, we all share some similar influences, such as David Bowie, The Beatles, and The Police. My first love though, was old soul and funk music, and I would have to say that the first artists to have a real impact on my style were Aretha Franklin and Earth Wind and Fire. Later in life I discovered the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and my life was finally on track.