It is no surprise that some of the most beautiful people in the world are born on this day: February 14th, Valentine's Day. One of them happens to be the very reason I even have a career in music, simply by answering "Yes" to the question I asked him nearly 30-years ago when I was first introduced to him at high school in Orange Park, Florida: "Do you want to be in a band?" Happy Birthday to one of the most talented, loving people I know in this world: Steven Patrick Haley! • Photos of our bands Sella + Audio Explorations. ~ James Tritten, Fort Lowell Records
Most songs are love songs in one way or another: what love feels like, what NOT having it feels like, and all of the infinitely complex feelings and shades of gray in between.
So, with Valentine's Day on Sunday, let's take a look at a few love songs that have been written by Wilmington artists over the years -- at 14, it's just a fraction of what's out there, with dozens more worthy entries that will have to go unmentioned in this story.
This soaring, anthemic song is from The Rosebuds' 2003 Merge Records debut, "The Rosebuds Make Out." Much of it was written (and, early on, performed) in Wilmington before the band (Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp) moved to Raleigh. "Wishes for Kisses" captures the nervous hopefulness of a love, or a crush, in its early stages, a dream both unfulfilled and much-ruminated on. Lovely lyric: "But he's thought of everything/ The songbooks, the songs they would sing/ He's makin' his wish list/ And wishin' for kisses tonight."
Sean Thomas Gerard: "Jovie"
The love of a parent for a child is among the emotion's purest forms. Sean Thomas Gerard, known for his work with Wilmington rockers Onward, Soldiers, wrote this dreamy soft-rock tune for his daughter the day before she was born last year. It'll be on his upcoming album "Finally Found a Paradise," set to be released March 30 on Wilmington's own Fort Lowell Records. Lovely lyric:"Jovie/ Hope you let me down slowly/ When you feel like you're fenced in/ Call my name and I'll be there in an instant."
Short and sweet, with a hint of darkness, like chocolate. Wilmington-based singer Shedd's vocals are on time here, dreamy and delicate like a memory of long-lost love. Lovely lyric: "Take me back to the place I can dream/ And I'll dream all day."
Pinky Verde: "Antacid 750s"
Heather Jensen, who records and performs moody indie rock under the moniker Pinky Verde, released the song “Antacid 750s" last year. It's about the intense emotion conjured by a new love affair, and slyly compares those feelings to a different kind of heartburn. Jensen's laid-back delivery makes it all sound like no big deal, but her lyrics give away her true feelings. Lovely lyric: "Days so content with you spent/ Haven't felt a hunger/ Haven't eaten for days/ Don't need to when I'm here with you."
"Love is a complex emotion, as shown by this heart-shaped graffiti in Smith Alley between Market and Princess streets -- and as shown by the love songs written by Wilmington musicians." [Photo By Paul Stephen]
On Tuesday, March 30, 2021 Wilmington, North Carolina's own indie folk rocker Sean Thomas Gerard's new Digital LP titled Finally Found a Paradise will be released on all digital music platforms. However, you can pre-order Gerard's sophomore solo album now on Bandcamp and you will receive two tracks from Finally Found a Paradise -- "Strange & Electrifying" and "Jovie" -- immediately.
Once upon a time, your favorite music writer was but a lowly high school rock fan, scribbling goth adjacent poetry and political opinions in notebooks and thinking up terrible headline puns for her high school newspaper along the lines of “tennis team swings into action.” But, then, senior year rolled around and your humble teenage scribe fell into a funk, afflicted by writer’s block, feeling like it was all just an exercise in futility.
Luckily, once upon that time, I also had some good friends, one of whom was a classmate who played guitar and wrote and sang and seemingly knew every underground British / Australian / New Zealand pop band worth knowing and had introduced us all to groups like XTC and the Church. And that friend happened to be part of a school sponsored writer’s group that met at lunch once a week, and insisted, repeatedly that I HAD to join it. So I did. And things got a little bit better. And at the end of the year, when we were all penning pseudo profound things in each other’s yearbooks, that friend signed mine with a plea for me to not stop writing.
Mind you, I’ve struggled with writer’s block for most of my adult life, so that advice was hard to stick to over the years. Years later, the same friend sold me my first bass guitar, one of a few instances of kismet that helped put me on the path toward writing about music. So, I guess I kind of owe a debt of thanks to that dude.
“That dude” happens to be one Andrew Gardner, frontman and architect of Tucson based psych/indie pop band La Cerca. The bands’ latest release, “A Nice Sweet Getaway” should have been the centerpiece of a cross-country tour last year, but the best laid plans of mice and men are quite undone by a global pandemic and the record didn’t get the usual extra dose of word of mouth traction that a tour usually provides.
But while the band didn’t get a chance to hit the road this year, they did make a record that’s well suited for one’s own socially distanced road trip.
Released on Fort Lowell Records, which also put out La Cerca’s 2014 effort “Sunrise For Everyone,” the new release sees Gardner and company moving beyond the confines of their jangly indie pop past into slightly more ambient and experimental territory. What on past releases might have served as delay heavy guitar solos or bridges or trippy musical interludes within the standard verse-chorus-verse format serve as the main fare here, with instrumental flights of fancy leading the way and traditional song structure sticking its head out the window and enjoying the sunset for a change.
Ladies & Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that we share with you Fort Lowell Records will be releasing Sean Thomas Gerard's (of Onward, Soldiers) second full length studio album -- 'Finally Found a Paradise' -- as a Digital LP in March 2021! Gerard's sophomore solo release is a reflection on the ups and downs of his life over the past ten years, and we could not be more excited to be a part of his life this year. Stay tuned here for more info!
Six people were killed (pictured): Christina-Taylor Green, 9; Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 76; U.S. District Judge John M. Roll, 63; Phyllis Schneck, 79; Dorwan Stoddard, 76; and Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, 30.
Thirteen others were shot but survived: Bill Badger, Ron Barber, Ken Dorushka, James Eric Fuller, Randy Gardner, Congresswoman Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords, Susan "Suzi" Hileman, George Morris, Mary Reed, Pam Simon, Mavanell "Mavy" Stoddard, James "Jim" Tucker, and Kenneth Veeder.
Luz de Vida is still available for your listening enjoyment on all digital music download and streaming platforms. 100% of the money from Luz de Vida goes toHomicide Survivorsto assist victims, families, and witnesses of the January 8th tragedy in Tucson, Arizona. CLICK HERE to check out Luz de Vida today.
"This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." ~ Leonard Bernstein, November 1963
Happy Birthday to Kenyata Sullivan, husband to Grace Sullivan, owner of Whatever Wilmington, founder of Wilmington's defunct WE Festival (as seen on MTV; 1996-2009), and leader of the band 'The Majestic Twelve' -- one of the many great contributing artists to the album GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
GROW is a local compilation of musical, visual, and literary artists who all stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and who have donated their own talents to endow the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP with working capital to help ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination in our community. We at Fort Lowell Records cannot image a better holiday gift for you to give anyone this year other than -- GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter -- on vinyl record. It is truly 'a gift that keeps on giving'. And for a 'minimum donation' of only $30.00, it is a gift that anyone can afford to give. Please join us tomorrow -- Saturday, December 5th -- on South 2nd Street in the South Front District for Beauty & Bloom's Holiday Market between 11:00am-3:00pm, and come buy two, three, or even five copies of GROW to gift to your loved ones this holiday season. 100% of the sales from GROW will be donated to the NHC NAACP, and we are on target to raise over $30,000, but we can't do this without your help, so come on down to buy a few copies of this amazing album tomorrow. Thank you in advance, Wilmington NC, for your support and contributions. We look forward to seeing you in our Port City's South Front District in the morning (or afternoon). 🎄
Join us this coming Thursday, December 3 between 5:00-9:00pm at Flytrap Brewing, along with musician -- Sean Thomas Gerard -- and food truck -- The Chrome Gnome, by Platypus and Gnome -- for Flytrap's first Vendor December event. Fort Lowell Records will be selling GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter vinyl records to continue our efforts with raising money for the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP, to help ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination in our community. 100% of the money from all sales of GROW will be donated to the NHCNAACP, and we have the potential to raise over $30,000 in total. However, we won't achieve that goal without your support, so please stop by Flytrap this Thursday to purchase a couple of copies of GROW to gift to your loved ones this holiday season. Sean Thomas Gerard, a featured musician on GROW, will be playing his wonderful music, while The Chrome Gnome and Flytrap Brewing are serving up their tasty culinary delights and brilliant brews. Happy Holidays, everyone! Be well, and be kind, and we will see you on Thursday at Flytrap! ((Don't forget to bundle up)) ☃️
As we end this short work week to take a moment and share what each of us individually are thankful for tomorrow with family and friends, we would like to take a moment ourselves to share with you how thankful we are to have received New Hanover County's support with and contribution to GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Pictured here are Kate Oelslager (left) and Lauren McConville (right), both Communications and Outreach Coordinators with our local county government, holding not only the county office's own archival copy of GROW, but the I Stand in Solidarity Because... card that their team provided for each vinyl GROW record, allowing you as the listener to express your own solidarity with our project and efforts to help ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination in our community. We recommend each of you take a moment to write-in how you Stand in Solidarity on your personal card, if not to share with others, at least to express and document your own feelings as they are right now, this year. We hope New Hanover County's I Stand in Solidarity Because card serves as a welcomed outlet for each of you. Additionally, THANK YOU dearly for your support with GROW. Be well, and enjoy your holiday weekend. ~ Fort Lowell Records 💛🧡❤️💖
Remember, 100% of the sale from our record GROW will be donated to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP to help ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination in our community. We are asking for a minimum donation of $30.00 per vinyl record.
Read the 'repost' below to learn about what all of the vendors + Satellite are doing additionally to help our North Carolina neighbors, ...and then purchase your Raffle Tickets today!
We’re so excited about our HOLIDAY RAFFLE & MARKET ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21st! Swipe to see some of our incredible raffle prizes~$5 per ticket. If you’d like to purchase a few in advance, please PayPal -- satellite.lounge@gmail.com -- & DM us as well. Proceeds will go to NourishNC and they need us now more than ever.❤️
Before the day is over, please allow us the opportunity to introduce you to our friend, American Author -- Joel Finsel -- pictured here holding his own personal beautiful Teal Green copy of GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Joel is one of the leaders with Third Person Project, the group of students and professionals who have been archiving The Daily Record: the Black owned newspaper that was burnt down in 1898 during the Wilmington Massacre. Their organization rescues any remains of the paper they can find by partnering with UNC to digitize the paper, ensuring its preservation for countless years ahead. Third Person Project is utilizing the GROW album to provide patrons of the vinyl record with a print-out of the earliest version of the paper -- Volume 2, from 1895, when the paper was called "The Wilmington Record" (before it was a 'daily' publication) -- to enjoy while listening to the various music from Cape Fear. You can actually read the news from 1895 while you are listening to new music of today. We cannot thank Joel enough for his contributions to GROW. But in an attempt to do so, we wanted to take a moment this evening to celebrate Joel on his special day, so...
Richard Dudley started his Brec post-rock project as a solo outing, but is quickly evolved into a collaboration with former moyamoya bandmate Scott Madgett. Debut single Patience... or Whatever finds them exploring repetitive guitar textures and drones. Recommended if you like The Fierce and The Dead.
"Moved by the horrific Memorial Day murder of George Perry Floyd Jr. at the hands of four Minneapolis Police officers, Fort Lowell Records presents GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The project, focused on Wilmington, North Carolina, is a response to the racial injustice continuously displayed by law enforcement across the United States of America. Friends of the formerly Tucson, Arizona-based label involved with GROW have donated their own talents to allow 100% of the sales from the record to endow the New Hanover County NAACP with working capital to help Fort Lowell’s newly adopted local community. GROW is an effort to help address the dire effects of racism in America." - Fort Lowell Records
So, one of the great things that has come out of the societal upheaval wrapped around the persistent systemic racism in the form of police brutality has been the proverbial artist “circling the wagons” around art’s most vulnerable and marginalized groups. Collectives, collaborations and compilation have been a marked bright spot in an otherwise dark overcast sky that is 2020.
I myself have been apart a few in almost every capacity that isn’t being a musician. There is no denying how important, at least to me, it is to see all walks of life and genres create and donate in the name of this cause. That energy, from the perspective of an African American man, is something that’s not only needed but immensely appreciated.
Listening to Fort Lowell Records effort, GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter only reaffirms that appreciation.
Now all things being honest, as you get to know me as a writer and music reviewer, I am both blunt, honest and unbiased when it comes to listening and critiquing music or artist regardless of what it’s for. That said, this might be the first compilation, in a list that includes my own efforts, that I happen liked EVERY song on.
Top to bottom it is clear that there is an abundance of talented musicians in Wilmington, NC that you need to know and listen to ASAP.
That said there are some legitimate bands that you should seek out and give more than one listen to. They, at least for me, carry so much of this album that make it a “whole album” if that makes sense.
These are my Standouts:
Kicking Bird- What would all the Other Girls Say (If They Knew What I Was Doing)
Honestly one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s an entire vibe that makes me think of The Cardigans, Two Door Cinema club and Silversun Pickups with a 60’s froth that I want swim through. If I hear anything that even stands under the same roof as those aforementioned three bands, it has my automatic and undivided attention.
The Love Language - Throwing Darts
Weezer vibes all around but “Pinkerton” Weezer with better guitar playing, an airy sound and superb use of synth that seems to be well ahead of what Weezer was at that time. I feel like they, however, captured the Cali sound way before Rivers milked it for everything it was worth. No complaints here about that though. If you don’t hear, see or smell the Pacific Coast highway while driving in a drop top while listening to this, I question how well your brain works. Please do yourself a favor and look them up, their 2013 album “Libraries” might be the best album I never heard before.
Sean Thomas Gerard - Strange & Electrifying
As a filmmaker, screenwriter and music supervisor, I take great pride in how I pick music to be used in projects. It always helps when a song can build a visual for me. “Strange & Electrifying screams rom com in the most enjoyable way possible, it’s a music lucid dream honestly that has been stuck in my head for a few days now. This is a guy who has a great understand of what he can do in the studio which is harder to find among indie artist. I’m definitely going to sit through his discography and see what I have been missing.
Lauds - Don’t Mind
They are probably the best band on the compilation. I have zero clue what rock I have been living under that I haven’t heard of these guys. I’m fairly certain i went and followed them on what little social media I could find from them. The opening guitar melodies and over all dream pop sound makes me automatically feel like they are an indie, not as polished, not as over produced (which is awesome) Snow Patrol. It just automatically makes you bop your head and want to know more about what they are doing and just how good the music in Wilmington, North Carolina is.
