Troika Music Festival 2010

Hammer No More The Fingers, Troika veterans,
are closing out the festival

The 6th annual Troika Music Festival is almost here.  November 4-6 will be an amazing string of nights for downtown Durham as bands such as Valient Thorr, Midtown Dickens, Old Bricks, Chatham County Line, Hammer No More The Fingers and much more grace the stages of venues such as Central Park, 618 Foster Street, The Trotter Building, Motorco Music Hall, Fullsteam, Pinhook, and Casbah.

The Bottom String Session w/ Embarrassing Fruits

Photo credit to J Caldwell

Embarrassing Fruits are a band that many have come to love in the North Carolina scene.  The band has always exhibited the feel-good rock vibe of the 90's, and with their latest release they proved their maturity as  a band while still keeping their trademark style.  Embarrassing Fruits kicked off WKNC's "Fridays on the Lawn" series with Birds and Arrows last week and after their performance they sat down to talk with The Bottom String and do a few songs.  The band talked about everything from the writing process for the new album to their excitement to play at the newly re-opened Kings.

Album Review: "Rock N Roll Ghoul" by Mad Tea Party

Rock N Roll Ghoul is Mad Tea Party's 2nd Halloween EP

Mad Tea Party have made it pretty clear that Halloween is their favorite holiday.  With last year's "Zombie Boogie" and this year's follow up with "Rock n Roll Ghoul", the band has been putting out Holiday EPs pretty frequently.  Mad Tea Party is a rock duo based out of Asheville, North Carolina comprised of Jason Krekel and Ami Worthen that boasts a unique blend of vintage garage rock and even doo-wop vocal harmonies combined with their "uke-abilly" base.  On "Rock n Roll Ghoul" the band brings out an assortment of garage rock/pop songs that leave you wishing it lasted just a bit longer, topping out at a little under ten minutes for the four track EP.

The title track immediately draws you into the record with a fast paced punk-esque sound to it with screaming backup vocals to end the song with.  The song, much like the rest of the record, doesn't slack off one bit.  Mad Tea Party could have easily thrown together a few songs to simply put out a Halloween EP but you can tell that the band really had fun with the record and by the end of your listen, you will too.  "Possessed" is the longest track at 3:05, a song that's a bit poppier than the rest of the record, Possessed still brings a vintage rock sound to the table.  The track that stands out the most is definitely "Frankenstein's Den", a cover of The Hollywood Flames.  Frankenstein's Den blends the uke-abilly sound that Mad Tea Party has become known across the region for while bringing doo-wop vocal harmonies to top it off.

Mad Tea Party didn't disappoint with this Holiday EP and hopefully they continue to churn them out.  If you're looking for a fun, quick listen through then definitely check the record out on their bandcamp at http://themadteaparty.bandcamp.com/ or even better check them out live on some of their EP release shows and pick up a "Rock n Roll Ghoul" vinyl 7"!

EP Release Shows:
October 2 - The Pour House - Raleigh, NC (with the Straight 8's)
October 15 - Stella Blue - Asheville, NC (with Mark Sultan)
October 16 - Double Door - Charlotte, NC
October 16 - The Cave - Chapel Hill, NC (part of Blackbeard's Lost Weekend)
October 29 - Uketoberfest - Aberdeen, NC

Album Review: "Frontier Justice" by Embarrassing Fruits

Trekky Records' Embarrassing Fruits

When one mentions the North Carolina indie scene, usually bands like Superchunk are the first to come to mind.  The band that created Merge Records and helped build upon the now booming music scene in North Carolina truly helped bring indie rock to the forefront.  But it's not just any type of indie rock, it's indie rock with a certain nonchalance that sums up what life is like to be a twenty-something adolescent going through the troubles of growing up, falling in love, breaking up, and doing drugs.  It's the mid-90's "slack-rock" as some refer to it, but most importantly, it's the sound that Embarassing Fruits continues to build upon in their latest record, "Froniter Justice".

The Bottom String Session w/ Lonnie Walker

Lonnie Walker, a band who has been named by Earfarm as the top band to hear in North Carolina, caught the eye of quite a few people at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh.  They were named one of Paste Magazine's Top 5 moments at Hopscotch, thrown in with names like Broken Social Scene, Lost in the Trees, and Midtown Dickens.  If you've ever been to a Lonnie Walker show then you know why.  The band exudes energy whether they're playing in a packed house, like they did at Deep South for Hopscotch, or out behind a diner in a fenced in lot full of gravel, like they did for their Day Party performance outside of Remedy Diner.  I sat down with Lonnie Walker on Saturday at Ruby Red and talked a bit with the band about things such as the origins of Lonnie Walker, Brian's side project, NAPS, and much more.

The band also sat down for two acoustic performances of their songs, "Wider Than White" and "Teenage Poem".  Brian and Eric stripped it down for "Wider Than White" and the whole band got in on an acoustic rendition of "Teenage Poem" including drumming on the chairs and stomping on the porch.  Lonnie Walker's performance for The Bottom String Sessions was definitely a highlight of my Hopscotch experience.

The Bottom String Session w/ Lost in the Trees

Photo credit: D.L. Anderson

Lost in the Trees is a band whose name has become synonymous with the North Carolina music scene, and for a good reason.  Lost in the Trees can best be summed up as a powerhouse orchestral-folk band that can go from making you want to dance to making you want to cry within a matter of minutes.  Although it has been said for many bands, you've not heard Lost in the Trees the way that it should be heard if you've not seen them life.  Fortunately I've had the grace to see them on multiple times and which each performance they outdid the previous one, but the show at the Trekky Records Day Party for Hopscotch Music Festival was by far the best.  For those of you not familiar with Hopscotch, it is a music festival put on by Indy Weekly, a Raleigh magazine, which showcased some of the best bands North Carolina had to offer.  Lost in the Trees headlined the Trekky Day Party at the Pour House and had the placed filled from wall to wall.  Their set consisted primarily of new songs but "Fireplace" tore the place down as their last song.

Kings Barcade brings even more live music to Raleigh

On August 27th, Raleigh was graced with the return of Kings Barcade.  Kings Barcade will be the location of quite a few Hopscotch festivities, but that's just the first of many great things that will be coming out of Kings Barcade in the near future.  Stay up to date on the shows at Kings through their website at http://www.kingsbarcade.com but for now, check out some of the standout shows right here:

Wednesday, September 8th
Valient Thorr w/ Junius, Howl
9:00 PM
$10

Friday, October 8th
Annuals w/ Ryan Gustafson, Jenna Smith
8:00 PM
$10 adv

Saturday, October 16th
The Thermals w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars
9:30 PM
$12 adv/ $10 door

Thursday, November 4th
The Felice Brothers
9:00 PM
$13 adv