Ears to the Ground: "Soak Our Days" by Free Clinic

Free Clinic

When I started the Ears to the Ground feature earlier this year, I figured it would serve as a good way to introduce new bands to the readers who are simply looking to expand their local music horizons.  So why not start sharing individual tracks from these upcoming groups in the state that may not have full lengths or complete releases to review or promote?  Ears to the Ground will do just that!

What better way to introduce this new series than with Free Clinic?!  Free Clinic popped up on my radar late last year, Ben Rose's blissful beach pop is sharp and sleek, coated with a distant tinge of nostalgia for careless summer days.  Free Clinic has recently taken on Villa Verde's Josh Sullivan and Wesley Hewett to fill out a rhythm section and the new trio will be playing with Virgins Family Band and Justin Lacy & The Swimming Machine at Satellite Bar in Wilmington on May 18.  With a June 29 date with Gross Ghost at The Soapbox, Free Clinic looks to be building up some momentum for yet another release this year.  Although Better When I'm High was just released in March, Free Clinic has already released a new track from an upcoming release.

"Soak Our Days" is filled with Beach Boys-esque harmonies that create a vast soundscape for this tight reverb washed pop tune to work its magic.  Rose's lyrics lead to reminisced daydreams of spending summer days in the sun, perfectly coalescing with the surf-rock vibes emanating from the instrumentation.  Free Clinic is an incredibly exciting group that's filled with potential, not to mention they're joining a Wilmington scene that seems to continue its rapid growth.  I'm stoked to see this eastern North Carolina scene blossom into something incredible, because it's well on its way.

The Bottom String Compilation Vol. 1

After a long wait the day is finally here!  I'm incredibly appreciative of all of the wonderful artists who were gracious enough to contribute their music for this compilation.  It's been a long time coming, and while some tracks that I adored didn't make the cut for complicated reasons I'm still very proud to present these eleven songs from some of my favorite North Carolina artists.

As a preface to this, there was a gorgeous Baobab track that was slotted for this compilation that wasn't available for streaming on Soundcloud due to copyright issues with Hand Eye Records.  Sadly the business side gets tied up in these things sometimes, but alas you can soak up the entrancing sounds of "Ganymede" below:



For the rest of the tracks though you can look towards our Soundcloud page.  Since January I've been contacting local acts from across North Carolina and requesting them to contribute tracks, be they old or new for this compilation.  The reception was overwhelming to say the least.  On top of my favorite musicians contributing tracks, the incredibly talented Dan Barbour lended a hand in the project as well by producing the beautiful artwork (which is actually hanging in my room now.)

I must thank everyone involved once again for their contributions.  It's been a treat putting this release together and I can't wait to bring you more!  Below you can find the entire tracklist with a brief summary of the artists.