Hey there everyone, hope you all had a great holiday season! Now that a new year is upon is, we've got loads of new things to be excited about, especially here at The Bottom String! This year is going to mark the first full year of our Bottom String Presents series in New Bern, held at Journey Cafe. We had a successful first show of the series back in December with Butterflies and Monsonia, and we've got even more exciting shows in the works for this year! Not to mention more Bottom String Sessions are already being planned. But enough about TBS, heres what I'm most excited for about 2011 in NC!
1) Hopscotch 2011
After the great weekend that we all got last year at Hopscotch it's going to be hard to top, but I'm sure that Grayson and the other folks at Indy Weekly responsible for putting this festival together won't be disappointing us this year. Hopscotch has already announced a 2011 VIP Contest over at their site where you're asked to point out 10 bands/venues found in their 2010 video, so if you're trying to get the hookup for this years festival then look no further than http://hopscotchmusicfest.com/
2) The Mountain Goats Merge Records debut
I'm not even going to try and hide it, I'm a fanboy when it comes to The Mountain Goats. On March 29 The Mountain Goats will be putting out their first full length with North Carolina based Merge Records entitled, "All Eternals Deck". Darnielle has described the album by saying it's like "that one scene in The Warriors where they're on the train and the sun's coming up and they're safe but you know the scars are permanant now." The Mountains Goats haven't disappointed me yet, and with their big Merge debut I'm sure that they won't start here.
3) Elephant 6 Collective at Kings
The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour is something that initially started in 2008, but we're graced with yet another tour by this amazing collective of musicians. The Elephant 6 Recording Company has been home to names like Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, The Apples in Stereo, and Elf Power. The Elephant 6 Collective will be coming through Raleigh to play at Kings Barcade on March 26, and you'd be out of your mind to miss it.
4) Kings' Two Night Stays
Looking through Kings Barcade's events calendar and what sticks out are some local favorites sticking around for the whole weekend. Bands like Megafaun, American Aquarium, and Future Islands have already announced two night stays at Kings, so hopefully this trend continues and we get even great weekends of music!
5) The Cat's Cradle
Seriously. It may seem lame to put an entire venue up for things that I'm excited about, but their schedule thus far looks amazing. January has shows like The Walkmen, The Love Language, Yo La Tengo, and Best Coast, and that's just one month so far! February's shows include Tapes 'n Tapes and The Get Up Kids as early standouts as well. The Cat's Cradle has always been one of NC's premier venues, and lineups like these prove to everyone just why it's so popular.
Between all of the great shows and records announced so far and the more to undoubtedly come in the future, 2011 is already shaping up to be a great year for the scene in North Carolina. So once again, Happy New Year and I hope to see you all out at the shows!
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