Hopscotch announces two new venues + launches new website

Hopscotch 2011 will be held from September 8-10 in
Raleigh, NC

The second annual Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh is a little under a month away from their full lineup announcement on April 20, but that doesn't mean that the excitement can't start a little bit sooner.  A post on the newly updated website has given us a bit of new information on this year's festival.

Album Review: "All Eternals Deck" by The Mountain Goats

"All Eternals Deck" by The Mountain Goats was
Released on March 29, 2011 on Durhams
Merge Records

John Darnielle's career has spanned over 20 years, and he's seen it all from lo-fi bedroom recordings, to the 2002 signing to 4AD Records when "Tallahassee" was released, all the way up to his signing with Merge and the release of one of the best Mountain Goats albums since "The Sunset Tree".  "All Eternals Deck" has everything you look for and quite frankly a few things that you weren't anticipating from a Mountain Goats album as well, in a good way.  It's a perfect summarization of how much Darnielle's songwriting has evolved while still maintaining it's core values of being incredibly raw, eloquent, and catchy all at the same time.

Hear Here: Week of March 28

Last week was certainly a busy one, with Spazz Fest in Greenville being the main focus of attention.  This week we're branching out, literally.  This week marks the first edition of Hear Here with the Western part of the state covered as well thanks to our newest author, Zack Michener.  Zack will be helping out with Hear Here for the western parts of NC, as well as posting show reviews and album reviews!  Be on the lookout for some of his posts, I'm excited to have him on as part of the team.  We'll also be including Monday of the next week now, that way you've got more than one day in advance for those exciting Monday shows (because everybody loves Mondays.)

Show of the week: Hammer No More The Fingers w/ LiLa, Midtown Dickens @ Motorco in Durham, NC

Show Review: Spazz Fest Night 3

The Love Language at Spazz Fest
Live at The Tipsy Teapot

Night three took the cake for me, and it most of all took me by 100% surprise.  I was coming into it really anticipating seeing The Love Language and The Charming Youngsters again because quite frankly it had been too long, and what I got to see all night proved to be an excellent surprise.  The post rock expertise of The Late Virginia Summers, the awesome psychedelic grunge folk group (if that could even accurately cover it) of Creepoid, and the breathtaking sets by Ceschi and Awol One.  Night Three was a phenomenal night and was also by far the most diverse night of the entire festival.

Show Review: Spazz Fest Night 2

Lonnie Walker at The Tipsy Teapot

Night two of Spazz Fest was filled to the brim with awesome music whether it be from the Singer-Songwriter Round Robin before the show that featured some of the areas brightest talents or the hours upon hours of awesome bands giving it up for a great cause.  With some of the best acts in North Carolina playing at The Tipsy Teapot, night two is going to be a hard one to top.

Show Review: Spazz Fest Night 1

Future Islands at Night One of Spazz Fest
at LIVE Club in Greenville, NC

Night one of Spazz Fest brought back memories of olden days in Carolina music times, cigarette smoke surrounding you almost as much as the good vibes when Greenville's own Future Islands took the stage to a crowded in and excited room full of fans.  While Future Islands didn't take the stage until closer to 1:00 there you'll hear no complaining from me because we got two awesome sets before from Motor Skills and Baltimore's Thank You.  The camaraderie felt in LIVE when Future Islands was on was something truly special, you could feel just how much this event meant to not only the band but to the fans as well.

The Story Behind the Spazz

Spazz Fest 2 will be held on March 24-26 in
Greenville, NC

For nearly seven years Jeff Blinder has been putting on shows in Greenville, North Carolina and for as many years he's been one of the driving forces behind the eastern part of the state's music scene.  This weekend marks the second Spazz Fest, an event that's chock full of some of North Carolina's best and brightest, and some excellent names from out of state as well.  The Greenville scene has a lot to owe to The Spazz and while the city of Greenville is home to ECU one would assume that theres plenty of college kids down to come out and support a local scene to help fuel live music around the area...not necessarily true.  Though it's been a bit of a struggle, Jeff Blinder and the tightly knit Greenville community of musicians and promoters have helped push through and create a pretty awesome place for bands to come through and play.  When talking with North Carolina artists in Bottom String Sessions the one place that bands always mentioned loving to play at was The Spazz, so I talked a bit with Jeff about the origins of the Spazz and some of it's shining accomplishments.

Hear Here: Week of March 21

This is a week of shows that I've been waiting on for quite some time now, lots of exciting stuff going on around the state yet again!  Between the ridiculously awesome hardcore show going on at the Local 506 on Wednesday with Off!, Trash Talk, and Double Negative to the 3 day music festival of Spazz Fest in Greenville, there's plenty of live goodness to go around this week.

Show of the week:

Night 2 of Spazzfest on Friday, March 25 w/ Lonnie Walker, Jack The Radio, Veelee, Cassis Orange, Railbird, Radio Control, The Rex Complex, Miking Mihrab

Butterflies, Junior Astronomers, & The Ethnographers featured on Blue Indian Compilation

The Blue Indian is an incredible music blog based out of Georgia that has recently put out a compilation featuring a few North Carolina artists as well as many great bands throughout the southeast region.  The Bottom String favorites Junior Astronomers and Butterflies are featured on this compilation, as well as Greenville based indie rock band, The Ethnographers.

Hear Here: Week of March 14

It'll be hard to top all of the awesomeness that occurred in the Triangle last week with Sharon Van Etten, Wild Flag, Wye Oak, Telekinesis, and The Love Language all packed into one weekend, but I've got four words to rival that, Holy Ghost Tent Revival.  First headlining set by Holy Ghost Tent Revival at The Cat's Cradle and it's got a stacked lineup with The Big Picture and House of Fools.  Plus there's a two night stay from Chatham County Line in Durham at The Casbah, so this week looks to be just as awesome as the last.

Show of the Week:

Holy Ghost Tent Revival @ The Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC

Show Review: Sharon Van Etten at Kings 3/11/11

Sharon Van Etten at Kings Barcade on March 11, 2011

Fighting through a broken string, Sharon Van Etten put on quite the show to a packed out Kings Barcade last Friday on March 11.  Whether it be through her stellar performance or crowd interaction (theres no wonder shes a  Triangle favorite, it's pretty clear she enjoys the place as much as they enjoy her) Sharon was keeping the audience on its toes.  The set consisted primarily of songs off of "Epic", but you'll find no complaints from me.  I'll get more into Sharon's set a bit later though.

Phil Cook & His Feat join the Trekky Family, featured at SXSW showcase

"Hungry Mother Blues" will be released on May 10, 2011 by
Trekky Records

It was officially announced this morning that Phil Cook, of Megafaun fame, was the newest addition to the Trekky Records family.  This wasn't the only thing that Trekky dropped on us though this morning, they also announced that Phil's new record, "Hungry Mother Blues", would be released on May 10, 2011 with Trekky's signature LP + CD + MP3 package deal.

Hear Here: Week of March 7

This weeks schedule is another one that's busy, busy, busy.  The weeks leading up to SXSW always shine bright for those who aren't able to trek all the way down to Austin, and this week shows how truly awesome the trickle down effects can be sometimes.  This week also includes my first trip to the Triangle for a show since January (appalling right?) for the Sharon Van Etten show at Kings.  Between Des Ark stopping through Chapel Hill with Pygmy Lush, the return of Sharon Van Etten to the Triangle, and a stop through at the 506 by local favorites The Love Language with Telekinesis, it's going to be another awesome week of live music with a little bit of something for everybody.

Show of the week:
Sharon Van Etten at Kings Barcade in Raleigh on March 11

Shakori Hills announces Spring lineup

Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival will be held from
April 21-24 in Silk Hope, NC

The Shakori Hills GrassRoots festival is a bi-annual festival in Chatham County that showcases some of the finest folk and bluegrass acts from the area, and the lineup for this spring is no different.  Featuring headlining acts like Tift Merrit, Langhorne Slim, Donna The Buffalo, and Holy Ghost Tent Revival, this years lineup looks absolutely stacked.  Shakori Hills will be held from April 21-24 this year in Silk Hope, NC and will feature over 50 bands and performers onto two outdoor stages, along with a dance tent and a cabaret tent.

A seventy-two acre farm with music all weekend and a dance tent, whats not to love?  Tickets for Shakori Hills are on sale now and are available through phone or for purchase right here.  Four day passes cost $90 in advance and $100 at the gate. Kids 12 and under get in for three, and Youth Prices (which is 13-15) are $12, $17, $20, and $12.  Day passes are $25 , $35, $45, and $25.  Tent camping is $10 per tent and vehicle camping is $50 in advance and $60 at the gate.  For any more information head over to Shakori Hill's website at http://www.shakorihills.org


The lineup is as followed:

Hear Here: Week of February 28

With the last installment of Hear Here for Februay, we've got a busy week for shows throughout the state.  Between Superchunk and Veelee at The Cat's Cradle, Future Island two night stay at Kings, and a plethora of awesome local shows, there's endless possibilities for this week.  So lets get started!