Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Five years ago today...
Electronic synth-pop duo Band & The Beat released their third Digital Single for the track "Sweet as Honey".
Monday, September 6, 2021
Neon Belly - The Boys Are Alright
[Repost from Just Some Punk Songs; by Mick Fletcher, September 4, 2021]
So, today's song. It's by a band from Wilmington, North Carolina called Neon Belly. They feature a line up of Lacie Jay (vocals), PMAttitude (guitar/bass) & Nice Derek (drums/production). They've just released a Self Titled 5 track ep which is available on Bandcamp as a name your price download https://fortlowell.bandcamp.com/album/neon-belly and on 7" vinyl from Fort Lowell Records. It's on an assortment of coloured variants and limited to 100 hand numbered copies. You can get it here: https://www.thefuzzyneedle.com/shop/neon-belly-neon-belly
It's a fundraiser release, 100% of the sales from this record will be used to provide School Supplies & Hygiene Products in New Hanover County as part of a charity drive managed by Wanda's Creative Hair Salon at 1001 Castle St, Wilmington, NC 28401 [Phone: (910) 297-1745].
Their sound is straight up shouty, enthusiastic punk. Female vocals, rough and ready production all performed with great gusto. One of the highlights is a cover of a song released as a single in 1978 by Netherlands band The Filth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81c_T42rx-8). I think it's better than the original.
This however is the lead track, it's called The Boys Are Alright...
Sunday, September 5, 2021
Five years ago today...
Jacksonville, Florida's post-rock instrumental trio Moyamoya released their "Ded Mel 25" Digital Single, which featured an incredible remix of the same track by Atlanta, Georgia based multi-instrumentalist / producer Navigateur.
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| Navigateur |
Saturday, September 4, 2021
PREMIERE: the Good Graces unveil lyric video for moody new single, "capital R"
Relationships can be tricky. So many conflicting emotions. So many competing motivations, both acknowledged and unseen. Who can make sense of human behavior? After all, there’s definitely, definitely, definitely no logic, right? On new single “capital R,” Kim Ware pulls back the curtain and exposes the tangled knot of contradictions and thorny rationales that often drive our decision-making. “I don’t wanna be here / But you’re so inviting / And this time I think I might stay,” she sings on the softly glowing chorus. Couched in warm hooks and moody atmospherics, it brims with the candid poetics that has informed the Good Graces’ songwriting for well over a decade.
“I’ve always tried to make my songs a very honest reflection of who I am,” Ware says. “But what part of life fits neatly in a box? Life is not a simple thing. So I often end up writing about that non-simplicity.”
After living in Atlanta for sixteen years, Ware recently moved back to her family’s farm in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The transition has helped her connect to her past and deepen her appreciation of home. Since then, she’s been working with NC engineer/producer Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Polvo) on the Good Graces’ forthcoming sixth full length.
“Capital R” is the first taste of that collaboration and it finds Ware embracing a more rock-centric sound. There are shades of folk-leaning Americana, of course, and the billowing synths help coat the track in a dreamy shimmer. But the driving force remains Ware’s knack for marrying tasteful melodies to piercing observations. Here, it’s the daunting realization that despite someone’s flaws—their domineering attitude and “half-assed optimism”— there is an intractable attraction that can’t be ignored. Why? Who’s to say. Simple truths can be hard to come by. But maybe, just maybe, we like it that way.
Stream the single and lyric video [below].
The Good Graces will perform on Sat., Aug. 28 at the EARL alongside the Preakness and Ben Trickey (full band). Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $12 in advance or $15 DOS. 21+ to enter. Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test required. Mask up, y’all.
More Info
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| the Good Graces; photo by John McNicholas |
Friday, September 3, 2021
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Interview: The Good Graces Get Therapeutic
Singer, songwriter, and drummer-turned-guitarist Kim Ware of Adobe & Teardrops fave the Good Graces is known for her unique brand of raw, folk-leaning “southern indie” music. Performing with a rotating cast of musicians, Ware has been crafting tracks with both guts and heart since picking up her first guitar in 2006. She’s one of those rare artists whose melodic lines and candid lyrics feel so natural they’re almost unnatural; she’s been praised as a “songwriter’s songwriter” as well as “an Atlanta treasure” by local musicians and press alike.
Born and raised in a small North Carolina town called Kings Mountain, Ware was a naturally introverted child. Her love of music led her to take up drumming, where she could participate in songs safely from the back of the stage. She got her first drum kit for Christmas at sixteen and taught herself to play, drumming in alt-rock bands (including popular Wilmington, NC act Tex Svengali) throughout her twenties and thirties. Eventually she moved to Atlanta, where she joined two bands whose songwriters (Jeff Evans of Chickens and Pigs and Mary O. Harrison of Virginia Plane) inspired a new appreciation for lyric-driven, narrative songwriting. But it wasn’t until 2006, after finding an old acoustic guitar at the Lakewood Antiques Market, that Ware began writing and singing her own work as the Good Graces.
During the 2020 pandemic, Ware launched two projects designed to connect local artists and friends despite quarantine restrictions: a virtual Facebook venue called “Kimono My House,” which includes members across the world and continues to grow daily, and a podcast called “Quarantuned With the Good Graces,” where she interviewed musicians about their creative processes and the need for artists to stay connected.
After sixteen years in Atlanta, Ware recently moved back to Kings Mountain, where she lives in a farmhouse her family has owned for more than a century. “I’m constantly writing songs that reflect this place, and I’m realizing that maybe I’ve always been writing about home in some way or another.” She’s working with NC engineer/producer Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Polvo, Kingsbury Manx, Dex Romweber, Shark Quest) on the Good Graces’ sixth full-length album, exploring “the stuff of home” from the farmhouse and her father’s peach orchard next door: the objects, faces, emotions, and natural features that make a familiar place feel confusing and comforting at the same time.
Ware’s new song “capital R” was written for an assignment from my therapist. It’s pretty upbeat and rockin’, with a southern indie style. It was produced by Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Polvo, Kingsbury Manx, Dex Romweber, Shark Quest) at his Duck-Kee studio in Mebane, NC. I played acoustic guitar and sang; Jerry played everything else.
In her interview, Kim digs into her influences, her favorite touring memories, and the best way to support artists in these trying times.
Who are some of your musical influences?
90s stuff – Nirvana, Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield. A little emo, I love Rainer Maria and count them as one of my favorite bands ever. That stuff, combined with some of my favorite Americana/country-ish songwriters like Lucinda Williams, Lydia Loveless, and, more recently, Jaimee Harris – those are probably informing my current writing the most. Early on, I was really drawn to the writing of John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) as well as his percussive guitar style. The drums were my first instrument so I think I approached (and still do) the acoustic guitar music like a percussion instrument.
Tell us about your favorite show you’ve ever played.
We got to open a handful of dates for Indigo Girls the summer of 2015. The first show happened to be on my birthday, at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the middle of our set, the crowd started singing happy birthday to me. I’ll always remember how amazing that felt! A close second is our last record release at Eddie’s in Decatur GA, in November 2019. The room was packed, the crowd was so appreciative, it was really a perfect night. Hard to believe everything took such a drastic turn just a few months later.
What’s the best way a fan can support you?
I’ve been enjoying sharing content over at my Patreon; it helps keep me accountable and gives me a place to try out new song ideas, release demos, stuff like that. And the monthly patron model is an awesome means of support – patreon.com/kimware
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
I’ve really been enjoying the most recent Adult Mom album, “Driver.” Really great songs and awesome production.
Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off?
One day I’d really love to tour in Australia.
the Good Graces — Official, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
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| the Good Graces; photo by John McNicholas |
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Saturday, August 28, 2021
From concerts to comedy to art shows, 6 ways to work it out in Wilmington this weekend
Saturday: Lauds
This Wilmington dream pop band's self-titled debut EP on Fort Lowell Records can sound like lost or forgotten songs from late '80s or early '90s college radio. Undeniably retro in their nostalgic appeal, the moody yet cautiously upbeat tunes -- filled with intricately layered guitars, lots of effects and echoey vocals -- somehow fit perfectly with our pandemic-worried world.
On Saturday, Aug. 28, Lauds -- which is singer/guitarists J Holt Evans III and McKay Glasgow, guitarist/keyboardist Boyce Evans, drummer Ross Paige and bassist Gavin Campbell -- will play a masked, outdoors album-release show for the EP at Satellite Bar and Lounge on Greenfield Street with Durham band Check Minus.
More:Wilmington dream pop band Lauds matches its retro sound to a moody modern world on new EP
Details: 7 p.m. Aug. 28, at Satellite Bar & Lounge, 120 Greenfield St., Wilmington. Free, 21 and up. Masked, outdoors show.
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| Lauds; photo by Ross Langdon Page |
Friday, August 27, 2021
OUT NOW: the Good Graces "capital R" [Digital Single]
Life is beautiful, and it's amazing how cyclical things can be. Kim Ware of the Good Graces used to live in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run a record label called Eskimo Kiss Records. She released music for Fort Lowell Records' owners: James Tritten's band Audio Explorations, as Tracy Shedd herself. Now, the Good Graces, after recently departing Atlanta, Georgia, have relocated to Shelby, North Carolina. Meanwhile, Fort Lowell Records is based out of Wilmington, North Carolina, and releasing music for the Good Graces these days...
Including this brand new single for a fantastic pop-gem titled "capital R", which is out today -- Friday, August 27th -- on all digital music download and streaming platforms! Check it out:
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Wilmington dream pop band Lauds matches its retro sound to a moody modern world on new EP
[Repost from StarNews; by John Staton, August 25, 2021]
J Holt Evans III, a songwriter and guitarist with the Wilmington dream pop band Lauds, said he thinks his group should "come out as endorsers of things." Just for starters: English musician Johnny Marr of The Smiths. Pad Thai. Vaccinations. And, since he and two of his bandmates went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tar Heels basketball and recently retired coach Roy Williams.
Evans is just kidding around, of course. But while we're talking endorsements, Lauds recently got a big one from Wilmington-based independent label Fort Lowell Records, which released the band's self-titled debut EP on July 30.
"I love reverbed-out, echoey guitar music. Call it shoegaze, dream pop, whatever," Evans said.
And while the four songs on "Lauds" are undeniably retro in their nostalgic appeal, sounding at times like lost or forgotten tracks from late '80s or early '90s college radio, the moody yet cautiously upbeat tunes somehow fit perfectly with our pandemic-worried world.
On Saturday, Aug. 28, Lauds will play a masked, outdoors album-release show for the EP at Satellite Bar and Lounge on Greenfield Street with Durham band Check Minus. On Sept. 11, they'll play the Palm Room in Wrightsville Beach with indie rock act Arson Daily.
The origins of Lauds date to three years ago, after Evans and singer/guitarist/songwriter McKay Glasgow, also of Wilmington folk-rock act Tumbleweed, bonded over the songs of Neil Young. They met when Glasgow was recording Tumbleweed's 2018 album "Little Yellow House" with Evans' father, Holt Evans II, who played with the Wilmington pop band Hungry Mind Review in the '90s and early 2000s and has produced some of the best albums ever made in Wilmington, including Astro Cowboy's forever-epic "Hedonism Colosseum."
"Lauds kind of formed through our friendship," Evans said, and soon enough he and Glasgow had joined with his younger brother, Boyce Evans, who plays drums on the record but keyboards and guitars for live shows, to create their own version of the driving, intricate, effects-laden guitar music they'd been listening to since they were in elementary school.
"Growing up with my dad, we'd ask him to get us a Nickelback CD," Holt Evans said. "He'd say, 'You know, you need to go and listen to Joy Division right now or you're grounded.'"
He remembers hearing early U2 albums "Boy" and "October" played in the car on rides to school as a kid.
"Now I feel like I can't get away from echo or delay on any guitar part I write," Evans said.
For his part, Glasgow cites the elder Evans as an influence as well.
"Just like their dad influenced them, for the last three years we've been recording together he's been giving me the same music," Glasgow said, citing such post-punk outfits as The Chameleons and New Order.
Lauds, however, put their own spin on the dream-pop genre.
The driving "Wasted Hours" and "Wait Forever" have almost surfily coastal vibes, while the more laid-back "Never Was" is infused with a kind of pretty sadness.
Album closer "Sandpiper," a song Glasgow said was inspired by growing up mere yards from the Cape Fear River, has a more sprawling, epic feel distinct from the EP's tightly constructed first three songs.
"It took us a while to get to the sound that you hear on the record," Boyce Evans said. At first, "It was more straightforward, cleaner rock. Then we kind of turned that to 11."
Boyce's brother agreed that the band wanted to "put the vocals and the guitars and the drums all on equal footing," conjuring a vibe with their sound while lyrics speak vaguely, though at times poignantly, to difficult emotions and troublesome memories.
"If people get to our lyrics we're proud of them," Glasgow said. "But they are secondary."
The band, which started to build a local following with eight or 10 shows before the pandemic, has enough material for a few more EPs. They've also added a couple of new members, Gavin Campbell on bass and Ross Paige on drums.
In addition to a couple of self-released singles, the band also has a song on 2020's "GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter" for Fort Lowell, which has emerged post-pandemic as Wilmington's most prominent indie label, having released new records this year from Port City acts Sean Thomas Gerard, punk-rockers Neon Belly and Lauds.
As for the band's punchy moniker, it arises from Evans III being a "huge fan of one-syllable band names." He added that "we'd be lying" if he said the band "didn't have a spreadsheet of like 100 names that we fought tooth and nail over." (Three that didn't make the cut? Grouse, Flowerhouse and Orca Boys.)
Lauds have also been working on a completely unironic cover of Don Henley's moody 1984 hit "Boys of Summer," which, if they play it at Satellite this weekend, might provide a fitting coda to Wilmington's own hot, pandemic-infused summer.
Want to go?
What: Lauds (EP release show), with Check Minus
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28
Where: Satellite Bar & Lounge, Greenfield St., Wilmington
Info: Free, 21 and up. Masked, outdoors show.
Details: FortLowell.bandcamp.com/album/lauds
Next up: Lauds plays Sept. 11 with Arson Daily at the Palm Room in Wrightsville Beach.
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| Lauds; photo by Ross Langdon Page |
Monday, August 23, 2021
Live Concert Video of Neon Belly at The Opera Room, July 30, 2021
On the eve of their wedding last month, now husband and wife -- PMattitude and Lacie Jay -- perform a live concert with bandmates Nice Derek (drums) and Kevin Earl (bass) as Neon Belly at The Opera Room in Wilmington NC. Watch as they perform "My Bad" and "Leslie Gore" from their self-titled debut EP.
Sunday, August 22, 2021
Tracy Shedd 'Blue' 20th Anniversary Vinyl Edition
It is with great pleasure that we share with you... Fort Lowell Records has teamed up with indie pop legends Teen-Beat to bring you the debut album, Blue, by our very own Tracy Shedd on vinyl record for the very first time in twenty-years, commemorating the 20th anniversary of Blue's original release on Compact Disc by Teen-Beat. Tracy Shedd Blue has been pressed on 140-gram blue vinyl, and is limited to (100) hand-numbered copies, which include a full lyric sheet. Get your copy today!
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Monday, August 16, 2021
Neon Belly EP Review by Tremendo Garaje
After being introduced at the end of last year with a great track included in GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter which already put us on the trail of this 3-piece from Wilmington, NC, and when not even two months have passed since their very first gig, we get from Fort Lowell Records the first Neon Belly's 7" EP, one of the most juicy and interesting raw basic punk debuts we have heard this year, which also has a charitable cause, since 100% profits will be donated in school supplies and hygiene products in New Hanover County.
Sunday, August 15, 2021
New Benefit Compilation Album Announcement
Fort Lowell Records is proud to announce the release of Luz de Vida II: A Compilation to Benefit Homicide Survivors, featuring brand new music from Amos Lee, Dr. Dog, Calexico, L'Orange, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tracy Shedd, XIXA, Gabriel Naïm Amor, Hannah Yeun, The Resonars, Soda Sun, Acorn Bcorn, and Juarez! 100% of proceeds go to raise money for Homicide Survivors, Inc.. Out November 5, 2021 on 12inch vinyl record [in partnership with Zia Records] and all digital platforms. Stay tuned here for more information to come in the months ahead!
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| Amos Lee |
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| Dr. Dog |
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| Calexico |
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| L'Orange |
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| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah |
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| Tracy Shedd |
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| XIXA |
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| Gabriel Naïm Amor |
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| Hannah Yeun |
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| The Resonars |
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| Soda Sun |
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| Acorn Bcorn |
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| Juarez |
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| Luz de Vida II: A Compilation to Benefit Homicide Survivors |
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Lauds performed songs from their new EP + more, live at Bourgie Nights [Wilmington NC]
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| Lauds, August 13, 2021 |
Thursday, August 12, 2021
OUT NOW: New Vinyl Record From Port City Punks, Neon Belly
Fort Lowell Records is very excited to share with you that the self-titled five-song debut EP from Wilmington, North Carolina's punk rockers -- Neon Belly -- is officially available on assorted colored vinyl record. 100% of the sales from this record will be used to provide School Supplies & Hygiene Products in New Hanover County as part of a charity drive managed by Wanda's Creative Hair Salon at 1001 Castle St, Wilmington, NC 28401 [Phone: (910) 297-1745].
Neon Belly features newlyweds Lacie Jay (vocals) and PMattitude (guitar / bass), along with Nice Derek (drums / producer). The 7inch record is limited to (100) hand-numbered copies and pressed on assorted colored vinyl. The EP includes one cover song -- "Don't Hide Your Hate" -- originally recorded by Filth and written by Dick Bakker, with adapted lyrics by Lacie Jay, and was mastered by Grammy-Nominated Mastering Engineer, Jeff Lipton, at Peerless Mastering (Dropkick Murphys, Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, LCD Soundsystem).
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Punk for a cause via Neon Belly
[Repost from Scene Point Blank; by Loren, August 10, 2021]
Fort Lowell Records has announced a new EP from Neon Belly of Wilmington, NC. The self-titled 7" Ep comes out on Sept. 3 with a 100% charitable cause in mind -- specifically that the band will donate all profits to provide school supplies and hygiene products in New Hanover County, NC.
Limited to a pressing of 100 copies, the EP includes five songs, one of which is a cover/adaptation of "Don't Hide Your Hate," originally by Filth. To keep namedropping, the band itself plays a high energy punk band in the vein of early '80s hardcore such JFA, Government Issue, and 7 Seconds.
Fort Lowell released GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter previously, which partially inspired the for-charity concept here.
TRACK LISTING:
- The Boys Are Alright [2:16]
- D.O.I.I. (Dissemination of Intimate Images) [2:12]
- My Bad [1:29]
- Don't Hide Your Hate* [1:38]
- Leslie Gore [1:40]
*Original song by Filth, written by Dick Bakker; Adapted Lyrics by Lacie Jay
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| Neon Belly, Photo by Janice O'Leary |
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