Hendy Street Produxions made a new commercial for Wilmington, North Carolina's own Gravity Records, and choose four artists from the Fort Lowell Records' album -- GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter -- to use for the music: The Majestic Twelve "Amphibious Vehicular Love", Team Player "Wake for You", Sean Thomas Gerard "Strange & Electrifying", and Tracy Shedd "Holding Space". Learn more about GROW here, and then order your copy from Gravity Records here.
EVENT CALENDAR
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Friday, December 4, 2020
Beauty & Bloom Holiday Market - Saturday, December 5 - 11:00am-3:00pm
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). π
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Flytrap Brewing presents Fort Lowell Records + Sean Thomas Gerard
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)) ☃️
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Thank you, New Hanover County
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 ππ§‘❤️π
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Satellite Bar & Lounge Holiday Market - Saturday, November 21 - 10:00am-4:00pm
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!
• • • • • •
[Repost from Satellite Bar & Lounge]:
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.❤️
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Happy Birthday, Joel Finsel of Third Person Project
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...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOEL!
Friday, November 13, 2020
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Sunday, November 8, 2020
Saturday, November 7, 2020
HCTF premiere - Brec: "Patience... or Whatever" video
[Repost from Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, November 2, 2020]
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.
The video was made by Zane Hall. Patience... or Whatever will be released via Fort Lowell Records. Release date: November 13.
Friday, November 6, 2020
Fort Lowell Records presents GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter
[Repost from Blood Makes Noise; by KL Martin, November 5, 2020]
"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.
Fort Lowell Records
Bandcamp
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- KL Martin, BMN Contributor
New ‘GROW’ album benefits New Hanover County NAACP
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A brand new locally-produced compilation album aims to get racism out of Wilmington.
The album is called GROW, and was produced thanks to about $15,000 worth of donated time and materials.
It features North Carolina artists and bands, but the record is about much more than music.
“GROW stands for ‘Get Racism Out of Wilmington’, or it could be ‘Get Racism Out of the World,'” said Art in Bloom Gallery owner Amy Grant.
The album is the brainchild of Fort Lowell Records owner James Tritten.
“It is a collection of musical artists, visual artists, and literary artists that all stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter,” Tritten said.
Tritten says he was inspired by the killing of George Floyd, and wanted to use his platform to make a difference in the Wilmington community.
“I turned to my wife immediately and said we have to make this project happen,” he said.
Tritten reached out to his contacts in the business and never expected the response he got.
“Every single one of our manufacturing partners, they all donated everything, 100 percent,” he said. “Whether it was the materials, whether it was their time.”
This means 100 percent of proceeds from album sales will go directly to the New Hanover County NAACP.
Inside you’ll also get artwork and a copy of a Wilmington newspaper from 1895, thanks to sponsors like Dreams of Wilmington, the Third Person Project, and Art in Bloom Gallery.
“At Dreams of Wilmington, three of the students 12-14 years old Drake, Dylan, and Jamie did this graphic maze,” Grant said.
Other sponsors include New Hanover County Government and Gravity Records, which is helping to distribute the album.
“I feel like so many people are so focused on other things right now and the whole Black Lives Matter thing is kind of off their radar or it’s fallen off their feed,” said Gravity Records owner Matt Keen. “This isn’t going away.”
With 1,000 albums for sale at $30 a piece, that’s as much as $30,000 for the local NAACP to further their mission for equality.
“It’s very important that I don’t want people to see this as a Fort Lowell thing, my thing, it’s not my thing,” Tritten said. “I merely had the voice of being able to create this, but part of creating it was really empowering people in the community.”
The record can be purchased at several local businesses like Gravity Records and Art in Bloom Gallery. You can also listen online on Spotify, and that revenue will also go to the local NAACP.
Click here for more information about the New Hanover County NAACP.
Click here for more about the album.
Thursday, November 5, 2020
GROW Album and the New Hanover County NAACP
[Repost from WKNC 88.1 FM Eye on the Triangle; by Aaron Kling, November 3, 2020]
SUMMARY
James Tritten of Fort Lowell Records and Deborah Maxwell of the New Hanover County NAACP discuss the upcoming indie rock album "GROW," its inspiration, and how 100% of sales will go towards community enrichment and voter education.
WHAT IS EYE ON THE TRIANGLE?
Eye on the Triangle is WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2’s weekly public affairs programming with news, interviews, opinion, weather, sports, arts, music, events and issues that matter to NC State, Raleigh and the Triangle.
LISTEN HERE:
Community comes together to ‘GROW’ beyond division, creates fundraiser for New Hanover County NAACP with new LP
Another song on the compilation includes Summer Set’s “Comfortable Town,” created years ago by band members Brian Weeks, Robert Rogan and Jeff Bridgers. But Summer Set never released it. The time felt right, according to Weeks, to send it out into the ether in 2020.
Only 1,000 hard copies of “GROW” are available for sale at Gravity Records, Modern Legend, Record Bar, Yellow Dog Discs, and Angie’s Hair and Records. It also can be purchased digitally from Fort Lowell’s Bandcamp in a “name your price” capacity, or streamed at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Deezer, Pandora, Tidal, and YouTube.
Tracy Shedd and James Tritten, founders of Fort Lowell Records, contributed to ‘GROW’ and produced the LP. (Port City Daily/Tracy Shedd) |
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
On new album, Wilmington bands rock for Black Lives Matter
[Repost from StarNews Online; by John Staton, November 3, 2020]
A ton of compilation albums featuring Wilmington bands have been released over the years and, if we're being honest, they've been largely forgettable and of widely varying quality. The latest effort in the venerable comp tradition, however, is also one of the more notable. In fact, it's one of the better local comps in recent memory, maybe even the best ever, a mix of solid song craft, rockin' vibes and excellent production values.
Born of this summer's Black Lives Matter protests, the album "GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter," was released Oct. 30 by Wilmington-based indie label Fort Lowell Records. It was masterminded by label founder James Tritten, who said the project was spurred by his desire to show support for the #BLM movement. Proceeds go to the Wilmington chapter of the NAACP, hence the title.
"GROW" is currently available on vinyl at Wilmington shops including Gravity Records, Yellow Dog Discs, The Record Bar and Modern Legend, as well as for streaming or purchaseonSpotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon Music and other online platforms.
Usually, compilations seek to the capture the zeitgeist of a town's music scene, kind of an aural snapshot of a moment in time. "GROW" is a little different, partly because there's not really a scene at the moment since live shows are on on hold due to COVID, but also because the bands represented are a mix of current and former acts. A couple of had their heydays in the mid-2000s and others haven't been based out of Wilmington for more than a decade.
Lyrically, not much stands out as being explicitly themed to the #BLM movement, and indeed many, if not most of the songs either predate the movement or seem to have been written with other subjects in mind. At any rate, "GROW" does showcase a good mix of styles, from classic and retro rock to dreamy pop and even some old-school skate punk.
The album leads off with the lilting drone of Tracy Shedd's "Holding Space," with its mantra-like lyrics hitting the album's theme and exhorting us to "make it a better world."
"Come on Over" from Pinky Verde -- aka Wilmington songwriter Heather Jensen -- slinks in with low-slung cool before breaking out into a sublimely noisy, blissed-out finale. Kicking Bird's "What Would All the Other Girls Say (If They Knew What I Was Doing)" is a fantastic, garage-y nod to the early '60s girl-group sound. And the newest band on the comp, Neon Belly, kicks things into high gear with the propulsive "The Boys Are Alright" and its disdainful lyrics about being "never man enough."
The veterans of Wilmington's rock scene are well-represented. The Love Language, who started out here before going on sign with Durham's Merge Records, deliver one of frontman Stu McLamb's trademark melodies buried under a wall of pounding cool. Summer Set, who hit their Wilmington peak around 2004 or 2005, offer the soft banger "Comfortable Town," which calls to mind the pleasures and pitfalls of living in a comfy burg like the Port City.
Ironically, for an inherently political record, the remix of The Rosebuds song "Get Up Get Out" from their 2007 album "Night of the Furies" -- this is the band's first new release since breaking up a few years back -- is the most direct call to action on "GROW." Wrapped inside an effervescent, celebratory melody, Ivan Howard sings of joining together to fight for light: "Get up get out, and fill the streets/ Let's dance in the ash of the big chimneys/ I know it's late, but meet us there/ We need our friends everywhere."
Sean Thomas Gerard of Wilmington band Onward, Soldiers captures the sublime folk rock he's known for on "Strange & Electrifying," a song driven by acoustic strums that amps up unto into a throbbing classic rock chorus.
Longtime Wilmington musician Kenyata Sullivan (Pandora's Lunchbox) has a delightful little track in the goofily bombastic yet endearing "Amphibious," using an electronic vibe to riff on an otherworldly tryst of some kind.
One of Wilmington's best and most seldom-seen acts is Life of Saturdays -- led by lyricist/vocalist John Jeremiah Sullivan and musician Nick Laudadio, I don't think they've ever played a live show in town -- and their pulsing rocker "That Kind of Love" cuts a deep, dark groove.
"GROW" also highlights up-and-coming Wilmington bands, including Lauds, whose remastered song "Don't Mind" is a driving dream pop gem. Team Player, among the kings of the local scene when the pandemic hit, bring the album out on an anthemic note with the Beatles-esque "Wake for You."
On the whole "GROW" is a fine record that both documents Wilmington's past and present indie rock awesomeness and supports one of the most important causes of our time.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Friday, October 30, 2020
Come 'Trick-or-Treating' with Fort Lowell Records on Castle Street
GROW vinyl records have arrived!
Order GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter today from Gravity Records, Modern Legend, or Yellow Dog Discs; international shipping is available. All money will be donated to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.
Ladies & Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that we present to you...
GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter -- NOW AVAILABLE on all digital music download and streaming platforms.
Remember, every time you download or stream GROW on any digital music platform, you are making a financial donation to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP. Your contribution will be used to help ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Video Premiere: "Comfortable Town" by Summer Set
[Repost from The Big Takeover; by Jen Dan / The Big Takeover Exclusives, October 22, 2020]
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, arriving on October 30th.
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 must be brought to the attention of our country because of Wilmington, North Carolina’s history: being the location of The 1898 Massacre and only successful American Coup D’Γtat. People deserve to know about our suppressed past, and learn what this one specific community is doing today to make it better for the future
GROW is an effort to help address the dire effects of racism in America.
A personally curated collection of regional artists, GROW arranges a sampling of the vast indie rock talent exhibited within The Port City. Both new and old, all embrace the alternative rock ‘n’ roll sound that Fort Lowell Records promotes.
Big Takeover is deeply pleased to host the video for one of the three never-before-heard compositions from previous recording sessions found on this album. The track “Comfortable Town” is from Summer Set, an indie pop outfit who have been active beyond the Carolinas since 2001 and contains members of the band De La Noche.
The hazy dreaminess of the synth-pop single is mirrored in the video clip which shows a ballerina-type dancer slowly going through her dance moves at the start. The footage then transitions to an art studio where the physical form is drawn, sculpted, and celebrated in all its complex beauty.
The litany of images of the video clip are a meditation upon the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of life that can be captured in an artistic way…
All video footage by Cotton
Pre-Orders Available through Gravity Records and Modern Legend
Fort Lowell Records Website
Summer Set Bandcamp
Saturday, October 24, 2020
7-days until 'GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter' is released!
Friday, October 23, 2020
4th single from 'GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter' is out now
Summer Set is Brian Weeks and Robert Rogan from De La Noche, which is their "frivolous soufflΓ© of soft-rock baby-makers and disco deliria" (Pitchfork; August 24, 2019) project with Ivan Howard of The Rosebuds (Merge Records). Summer Set was much more active in the live music scene back between 2000-2005, and have a few great indie recordings to show for it on their Bandcamp page, which also features a fantastic EP from 2012. Summer Set has since remained a studio project for the most part for the dynamic duo from Wilmington, North Carolina. Weeks and Rogan wrote their contribution to GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter -- "Comfortable Town" -- a few years ago, but finalized the track for the album just this summer as the project came together.
We are very excited to share with you that Summer Set "Comfortable Town" is now available as of today on all digital music download and streaming platforms.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Premiere: Tracy Shedd’s “Holding Space”
[Repost from Independent Clauses; by Stephen Carradini, October 15, 2020]
I’m a big fan of Tracy Shedd, The Band and the Beat, and Fort Lowell Records– all efforts of some combination of Shedd and James Tritten. They (in Fort Lowell form) have a new compilation coming out called GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The label explains that “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.”
In advance of the record, they’re releasing four singles, and we have the honor of premiering Tracy Shedd’s single/video for “Holding Space.” The video is here:
The song is an icy, stark, downtempo electro framework with Shedd’s inviting vocals lifting the proceedings. “Are you listening?” she asks over a rubbery bass guitar, Casio-esque tinny synths, and distant tambourine clink. “Holding space / make it a better world” she croons over the chorus, as the instrumentation cheers slightly to meet the hopeful lyrics. The song isn’t long (2:59), keeping things tight and urgent. This is especially reflected in the coda of the song, which shudders to a sudden halt, leaving the listener with a sense of incompleteness that fits the lyrics. The accompanying video focuses on moving shots of horses and plants (particularly flowering ones, plus the spiky/beautiful aloe plant), but with a cold, desaturated color palette reflecting the dim light of the song’s sonic world. It’s a unique, interesting song with a tightly connected video.
You can also listen to “Holding Space” via SoundCloud:
“Holding Space” officially releases Friday, October 16th. The full album of GROW will be released on Friday, October 30th.
Pre-Order links for GROW are here: Gravity Records, Modern Legend, Yellow Dog Discs.