Expanded to take over the last two Saturdays in January, the second and final night of this incredible festival, now in its fourth year, is taking place at the Congress Theater tomorrow. Playing across three stages throughout the Congress will be some of the best roots rock Chicago and the rest of the country has to offer. As a change from last week’s performances, this week will showcase the influence of bluegrass and blues in the rock, folk, and alt-country genres.
Check out the full lineup, ticket information, and poster below.
Alright Memphis, you’ve had a long week with the daily grind, and you deserve a break, dammit. This weekend will give you the perfect excuse to grab one or seven of your closest friends and hit the town. Let’s take a trip down Memphis Music Lane to hit up some killer shows with some of Memphis’ most elite.
This Friday (2/27) will be a big night for a Memphis supergroup of sorts, Sex Cult, which features members of of the Magic Kids, Bake Sale, Noise Choir, and Vile Nation. They’ll be tearing up the Buccaneer Lounge as they celebrate the release of their new 7″ vinyl single being issued by middle Tennessee imprint Nashville’s Dead, “Plain Jane” b/w “I’m a Bug,” which is a cover song originally recorded by the Urinals in 1979. We wonder if they know there is also a group out of New York called Sex Cult that specializes in the Grindhouse/Brostep/Gutterhouse/Dive genre. That’s a co-tour we would not want to see.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
Folk artist and California native Cass McCombs has spent most of his life traveling around the country recording six albums, and building quite an impressive fan base in the process. Last year’s two releases, Wit’s End and Humor Risk, were compiled from three-years worth of recordings in New York, New Jersey, San Fransisco, LA, and our sweet home, Chicago. Check out the music video for the track “The Same Thing” from Humor Risk, below.
You can pick up both Humor Risk and Wit’s End on vinyl through Domino Records.
You know that Carnival season is in full swing when you have two chances to rock with dancing women in costume on successive weekend nights for good causes. I also detail a rare local appearance, a CD Release Party and some free music at our favorite record store. Read on for where you’ll be.
Tonight, the Camel Toe Lady Steppers host their annual “Best-Little-Toe-Down-in-NOLA” at Tipitina’s. The concert is a benefit for the Roots of Music after school education program. Besides the girls themselves, expect to see the New Orleans Bingo! Show, the Local Skank, Fleur de Tease and the Mystic Ponies. The kids in the Roots of Music will also perform.
Ciao, gents and dames! You’ve survived the first month of the new year! How are you feeling? With the year starting to set in, we think you deserve to take a load off, so let’s look at what Cleveland has to offer in good music, shall we?
Our featured show for the last weekend of January is Jack’s Mannequin supported by Jukebox The Ghost and Allen Stone on Sunday (1/29) at the House of Blues. This alternative band has been making music since 2005, and released five studio albums that have achieved top chart positions.
This show will allow many to reminisce about younger years when songs “The Mixed Tape” and “Dark Blue” reigned supreme on the airwaves, and is certainly going to be an experience not to miss. We’ll see you there!
There will always be the bands that just make you feel good. The bands that tap into something nostalgic, dredging up memories of belting at the top of your lungs in your room while your stepmom tells you to turn it down from outside your locked door. (If you were like me, that was when you turned the dial and drowned her out, continuing your dance party for one.)
For me, those bands will always be the emo/punk bands that got me through high school and sent me off to college with a determined beat to my step as I made my way around campus.
One of the bands I remember noshing on frequently was Hit the Lights. I was stoked when they announced a new full-length would be released early this year. Now, the “Countdown to Invicta” is at a mere four days, and I couldn’t be more excited to set the needle on the record, free my hair from its perpetual ponytail, and dance around my room like I used to. Hell, I’m sure my roommate will gladly tell me to stop singing at the top of my lungs once I’ve got all these lyrics on lock in my ol’ mind. I’ve got a better sound system then I did in my teens, so I’m also certain drowning her out will be no problem.
Anyway, back to the band. Hit the Lights hails from Lima, OH. They’ve been steadily touring since 2003, playing on such notable tours as Bamboozle, Warped, and a sold-out headlining tour. They’ve played alongside a variety of bands such as Hellogoodbye, Paramore, and New Found Glory to name a few, and they were on the Billboard Top 100 with their last album, Skip School, Start Fights.
On Tuesday, the Strength In Number (SIN) tour featuring Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (D.R.U.G.S.), Hit The Lights, Like Moths To Flames, Sparks The Rescue, and My Arcadia took over the 9:30 Club. The night mixed pop punk with post-hardcore, and even threw in a little bit of electronic dub-step as D.R.U.G.S. made their headlining debut at the Club.
While the crowd may have been smaller than the last time lead singer, Craig Owens, and his band appeared here, the energy was not. With an hour long set, the intensity was felt from every beat to breakdown. The floor of the 9:30 Club was kept moving to a moshing dance as the tattooed lead singer, known for his theatrics, once again walked the barricade, and even at one point, walked the crowd. The set included most of the songs off of the band’s self titled LP such as “Sex Life” and “If You Think This Song Is About You, It Probably Is.”
Owens closed the show with a pointed statement regarding music, “go to fucking shows. I don’t give a fuck if you download our music, or buy our music, as long as you are here and you feel it.”
The Alialujah Choir is Adam Shearer and Alia Farah of Weinland, and Adam Selzer of Norfolk & Westernand M. Ward. The Portland, Oregon outfit have delivered a delicious album that radiates sincerity and poignancy, without resorting to the type of earnest claptrap which has blighted the scene these past few years.
If you’re a fan of well crafted folk/pop with gorgeous harmonies, this band is for you! Check out this clip, the first song from their first ever live show, in their hometown:
This Saturday (1/28), Sockets Records holds its 2012 Showcase at the Black Cat, featuring performances by Protect-U, Imperial China, Buildings, and Cigarette.
The prodigious local indie label, specializing in “experimental, incidental, minimal and arranged sounds” since 2004 (anyone ever heard of those Bluebrain fellas?), will be joining us all week at The Vinyl District. Artists who will be playing the Sockets showcase will be sharing their love of vinyl and music as a preview to Saturday’s blowout.
Today, Mike Petillo from Protect-U shares the best vinyl karma story you will ever read.
It’s not every day that you hear of a band with a drummer that tap dances. In fact, if you’re like me, I’ll venture to say you’ve never heard of one—until now. Meet He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, a band from Southern California that is fronted by brother and sister Robert and Rachel Kolar.
Both bring diverse skill sets to the stage; Robert has the musical background, while Rachel has theatrical and written prowess. Together, with a few of their friends, they comprise a band that is as focused on writing great music as providing an entertaining live performance.
TVD had the chance to talk to the Kolars about their band. Read up on how they grew up, “vaudeville pop,” and how each sibling truly shines on stage!
Joan Jett said it long before I did, but it is a phrase that is worth repeating: I love rock ‘n’ roll. Thus, I spend a fair amount of my free time in cramped clubs and bars watching guys and gals rock out as they sing, scream, sweat, swear, spit, and swig beers on-stage.
Although these “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” shows are nearly a guarantee of a good time, the most expressive and personal performances are often stripped down to just a musician, a spotlight, and his acoustic guitar. On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of experiencing such a performance by Ryan Adams at the Strathmore in Bethesda.
The Strathmore auditorium is so large I had to squint to properly see Ryan and his guitar handiwork, but the sound quality within those spacious wooden walls was so well done, I could tell each audience member felt like Adams was playing directly to him or her for their own private show.
This is the first in an occasional series for those who have downloaded The Vinyl District’s Record Store Locator app. It’s our chance to update you on where we’re at, and where we’ll be headed.
In just over a month since we launched, over 10,000 of you have downloaded the app, and hopefully have taken it for a test drive. We’d like to thank each and everyone of you for giving it a shot. I’d especially like to thank our developer, Shoutem, for being so supportive.
To bring everyone up to date, we now have stores listed in ten countries: Australia (77), Belgium (32), Canada (52), Germany (107), Italy (1), Sweden (11), Switzerland (10), Turkey (2), United Kingdom (over 350), and of course the United States (over 1,200). The great thing is that everyone has helped. And we’re far from finished. We’ve received emails from people all over the globe letting us know about stores that need to be listed, and stores that are no longer in business.
Should you need to contact us with store openings, closings, a change of address, or a shop we’ve overlooked, you can always reach us at info[@]thevinyldistrict.com or on our app Facebook page.
We’ve been in this racket long enough to know that it’s not every day a band or artist attains the lofty ambition of releasing their first single on vinyl, not to mention it arriving in tandem with said artist’s first full EP. Washington, DC’s Jessica Louise Dye, or Lightfoot, is the exception to that rule.
Lightfoot’s 7″ single and EP, Scarlet Sails is available this week, and as such, DC’s Black Cat is hosting a release party this Friday night, January 27th. Joining Jess on the bill are Loose Lips, Ugly Purple Sweater, and Paperhaus—all of whom we’ve cornered this week for a chat about records in anticipation of Friday night’s event.
In addition, Lightfoot has given TVD a pair of tickets to Friday’s release party and a copy of the new 7″ to give away to one commenter to this post or the remaining ones throughout this week. Just let us know in the comments why you want to be in attendance Friday night – and why – and the most convincing of the commenters gets the single and two tickets.
If you missed our initial installments, we chatted with Loose Lips on Tuesday, Paperhaus yesterday, and today we’ve got a few words with Sam McCormally of Ugly Purple Sweater. (Jess joins us tomorrow, by the way.)
In 2010, founding Ugly Purple Sweater members Rachel Lord and Sam McCormally decided they wanted to make more of a racket, so they persuaded Mike Tasevoli, Rishi Chakrabarty, and Will McKindley-Ward to join the band. On their new album Conventions, the expanded line-up marries staples of the pop music form (fist-pumping beats, noisy guitars, and catchy hooks) with peculiar harmonies and oddball song structures.
As Mardi Gras approaches in earnest, fans of the Radiators are lamenting the loss of our soundtrack of the season. As a way of assuaging the angst, TVD is offering a free copy of the latest full-length download from the pen of Ed Volker. Read on for details on how to win.
When Volker retired last June after over 33 years leading the celebrated New Orleans band, he said he wasn’t going to play in public for at least six months. But he never said he was going to quit composing. His new 12-song collection, Snag, is proof that the fertile mind of the poet is still kicking like the proverbial mule.
Two of the songs will be familiar to hardcore fishheads especially those enamored with the MOMs Ball, the underground Carnival party that the Radiators, as well as Volker’s earlier bands, played for over three decades. Last year’s theme song, “Last Lick” makes an appearance here, as does another rarity, “The Ballad of Delia Green,” known on set lists as “Delia’s Gone.”
