Independent Record Label | Est. 2009
Wilmington, North Carolina

 
 

EVENT CALENDAR

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

FILE UNDER: "WOMEN WHO KICK ASS"

[REPOST from The Joy of Violent Movement]

With the release of her five previous albums through labels like Teen BeatNew Granada Records and Devil In The Woods and stints in Band & The Beat, the Jacksonville, FL-born, Wilmington, NC-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Tracy Shedd has developed a reputation for being a musician’s musician, whose sound and approach has been compared to the likes of Alvvays, Belle & SebastianLiz PhairMy Bloody ValentineSnail Mail, Sonic Youth and countless others.  

After Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley [sat] in on drums during her last US tour, Shedd began writing the material, which would comprise her forthcoming album The Carolinas in her new home of North Carolina. The album reportedly finds Shedd drawing upon her indie rock roots with some of her electro pop experiences with Band & The Beat — and is arguably some of the most playful material she’s written and recorded to date. The album’s first single is the coquettish fuzz pop anthem “Kissing and Romancing.” Centered around fuzzy power chords, a big infectious hook and a decidedly lo-fi production, the song manages to recall 90s grunge and fuzz pop — Liz Phair’s “Supernova” immediately comes to mind; but with a playful, coquettish air.

The recently released video features stop-motion animation of a wooden robot dancing and courting a blue alien. And while drawing some influence from The White StripesFell in Love with a Girl,” the video, much like the song has a playful air.

Shedd’s latest album, The Carolinas is slated for a September 20, 2019 digitally through Fort Lowell Records and on vinyl through Science Project Records.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Meet Emily Wilder of Wet & Reckless in Echo Park

[REPOST from VoyageLA.com]

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Wilder.

Emily, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?

Wet & Reckless started with bassist Jessica Gelt (The Movies) and me (Emily Wilder) as two-piece outfit in Echo Park after a late night discussion about how California ridiculously decided to legally name a DUI “Wet & Reckless”. We decided to embrace that ridiculousness later as a three-piece all-girl band about nine years ago, after all coming from different bands with bossy boys. This was when there weren’t as many girl bands. We’d go to our rehearsal space at Bedrock when it first opened and would laugh and cry and just do music the way we wanted. In the beginning, we were put on bills with more “pretty players”. Now we know so many girls in bands that play more rock than Starbucks stylings. We toured across the states over the years. We all lived in the same building and at the end of the hall was Jalise Woodward, who joined our band on the drum kit. Now we’ve mixed up players a couple of times. We recorded many albums but felt really happy with producer, Kristofer Sampson (Atlanta), Tom Biller who mastered it and released our first album in 2015 on cassette with Lollipop Records. Right now we are recording our second album with Dylan Ely of Portia Street Studios and really excited about this next release.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Ha! You are talking about the music industry right? Yes, many struggles, but it’s all been worth it. I grew up in a music family and always make the joke, “music will ruin your life”, but I couldn’t live without it. I am a sucker for good lyrics and what better way to break, heal and survive in this human condition than writing music.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Jessica is a writer, Jalise is an artist and I (Emily) direct stop motion animation films. Our band is a sisterhood and cuts through the thick of the daily grit. I like the storytelling aspect of songs. I guess that’s what drives me. Hmm, what makes us different? Well, I know all of our moms think we are special. But in all seriousness, we are not hired guns or perfect. We are a family; a truly special bond that has been building for years.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think we are an unruly bunch with an honest perspective, even if it is self-deprecating. Music is so subjective and there is something out there for everyone. The most important thing we can do is make someone laugh, cry, not feel so alone, or just feel anything at all.
Contact Info:


Monday, August 12, 2019

The Good Graces Keep Their Loved Ones Close on "Snow Angels"

[REPOST from Popmatters.com]

The story goes that the Good Graces started on an impulse, when Kim Ware bought her acoustic guitar, Buzzy, from Lakewood Antiques Market in 2006. The artist was well regarded as a drummer in the Atlanta scene, but she and Buzzy proved to be a perfect duo as songs began to flow out from them. Now, the Good Graces are a revered indie-folk collective known for delivering evocative songwriting, and in those regards, "Snow Angels" is no different. The song strikes a chord of spiritual beauty about keeping ties with your loved ones even after they've gone. It hits a poignant blend of emotions in the subtle buildup towards its crescendo, where Ware's reflective vocals are met by a broad stroke of folk instrumentation that, together, evoke their full sentiment.

"Snow Angels" is from the Good Graces' new album, Prose and Consciousness, releasing on 11 October. On the song, Ware recalls, "This is the only song on the new album that I didn't write. I did take some artistic liberties (which the writer was open to, thankfully!), but it was originally written by my dear friend Wyatt Espalin. The first time I heard him play it, several years ago around a campfire at his old campground, I instantly loved it. I was first drawn to the chord progression in the chorus because it was similar to a song I was working on at the time. I remember thinking, 'Hey, that sounds like something I might do.' That might have been what initially got my attention, but I'm a big lyrics person, and once I paid attention, the lyrics just killed me. They were so sad and nostalgic.

[Click here to listen to the Good Graces' new track, "Snow Angels"]

"About a year or so later I was asked to pick a song of Wyatt's to play at his annual birthday show at Crimson Moon. It didn't take me long at all to choose that one. The problem was learning how to play it, and learning it in time. So I decided to make it easier on myself and just play it like I'd play it if I had written it. I stripped it back and slowed it down (the original was a bit more rockin'), and simplified the bridge a little. People at the show really responded to it, and it just felt so great to play. When it came time to choose the songs to record for the new album, I wanted songs that captured the past year or so for me. This song really does that -- family has been a big thing for me lately, and this song has some of that; to me, it looks back at the past with a little bit of sadness and longing that I unfortunately think is pretty accurate. As we get older, relationships change and evolve, and sometimes you just miss when things were simpler. There's some of that in "Snow Angels", and also a good bit about identity, and coming to terms with who you are and what you really want, which is also a common theme of the album.

"I knew I wanted Wyatt involved in the recording and was fortunate to have him play fiddle on it. It's rather funny, the first 3/4 of it is so stripped down, but a lot of folks played on this one! Tim Anderson added cello -- and while he and Wyatt weren't aware of each other's parts at all (I don't think either of them had the other's part to track with), they magically worked together really well. There's also a bit of banjo (Rick Taylor) and mandolin (Andrew Vickery). We had a lot of fun mixing it; it's such a pretty song, and the vocals are really important, but I also was just loving how the band sounded near the end. So we ended up - quite last minute - bringing the vocals down to showcase the band a little more, and then back up at the very end. I'm happy we made that choice with it, it's one of my favorite parts of the album."

Written by Jonathan Frahm



Thursday, August 1, 2019

Tracy Shedd - Record Release Party for 'The Carolinas' - Fri 9/20/19

Please join us on Friday, September 20, 2019 at Bourgie Nights in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, to celebrate Tracy Shedd's release of her new full length studio recording The Carolinas - an evening hosted by Modern Legend - as she shares the stage (and record release celebrations) with good friends, De La Noche (Get Loud Recordings) - featuring Ivan Howard of The Rosebuds.  This will be Tracy Shedd's first live show in two years, so don't miss it!

Click here now to purchase ticketshttps://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4309694

Listen to De La Noche + Tracy Shedd here:


Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Happy 45th Birthday, Tracy Shedd!

Celebrate Tracy Shedd's 45th birthday today by listening to her new "45"(rpm), "single," that is. CLICK HERE now to play "Kissing and Romancing" on Spotify:


Monday, July 29, 2019

Tracy Shedd - "Kissing and Romancing" - New Music Video

Tracy Shedd - of Teen-BeatNew Granada Records, and Devil In The Woods record labels - has a new album coming out soon called The Carolinas, and there is a brand new music video for the first single released (and available everywhere like Spotify, Pandora, etc.) - "Kissing and Romancing."   Watch the video now:

Sunday, July 28, 2019

La Cerca video of live performance of "Spacedad" from Minibar, Kansas City MO

Watch this video now of La Cerca performing their song "Spacedad," from their album Night Bloom [Xemu Records], at miniBar in Kansas City MO:

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Listen to Tracy Shedd's new song, "Kissing and Romancing"

Did you know that indie rock songstress Tracy Shedd has a new album, The Carolinas, coming out soon?  To celebrate, Shedd has released a first single, titled "Kissing and Romancing."  Check it out here:


The Carolinas will be release on vinyl by Science Project Records and digital format by Fort Lowell Records; scheduled to be released on Friday, September 20, 2019.

Friday, July 12, 2019

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Did you know that Moyamoya released a new album at the end of 2018 called 'Hawn'?

La Cerca US Tour July 2019


Sunday, December 2, 2018

Moyamoya has new full length album called 'Hawn' coming out Dec 24, 2018 - Xmas Eve!

Oh wow, oh wow!  We could not be more happy to share with you that we back at it with new release from Jacksonville, Florida's own instrumental rockers - Moyamoya - due out on Christmas Eve - Monday, December 24, 2018.  Moyamoya is bringing us a brand new full length album, and I've gotta tell you... it is simply amazing!  So fresh!  So alive!  You are gonna love what the boys have been up to.  For now, here is the cover art for the new album - Hawn.  We will post music to sample in the weeks ahead.  Stay tuned!


Sunday, October 15, 2017

Friday, October 13, 2017

Can't help but wonder if THIS inspired THAT

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIAS OESTERLE, ALAMY

"These human towers, or castells in Catalan, have become a symbol of Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain vying for greater autonomy." ~ MEAGHAN BEATLEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, 10 OCTOBER 2017

Perhaps this was the inspiration for Tracy Shedd's music video by Canadian filmmaker - Jesse Ewles (Yules) - for her track "Encourage Me," from the Fort Lowell Records compilation album, Luz de Vida. Watch the video here, and you decide:

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Happy Birthday to La Cerca's Andrew Gardner!

Monday, October 9, 2017

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Baby Gas Mask Records wraps up its 3-year Tucson documentation project

"Fort Lowell Records was definitely an inspiration to even become a label," Melissa Mauzy said.
THANKS (blushing)! We love you, Tucson, Arizona!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE by Eric Swedlund, Tucson Weekly


Saturday, October 7, 2017

'Get It In Your Ears' interviews Brennan Hammill of MOYAMOYA

"The musical remedy that is MOYAMOYA will take over your senses and relieve the ears and constant impulses of everyday radio station surfers." ~ Morgan Bates, Get It In Your Ears

READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW HERE


Featured Photo by: Alex Baker