Singer, songwriter, and drummer-turned-guitarist Kim Ware of 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.
“capital R” is the new impassioned and cathartic single from the Good Graces. Ware’s voice curates a raw vulnerability atop a tried and true indie rock formula recalling the candid flair of Liz Phair. There is a sense of timelessness to the track though it effortlessly defines a generation of 90’s angst with beautiful openness, creativity and sense of self-worth.
“Compared to most of my other songs, this song came about in a pretty interesting way. It was the result of an assignment from my therapist. I was dealing with some complicated feelings and she urged me to write a letter, to myself, from the feelings. At first I thought, “hmm… what?” But a few days later I was journaling and the letter just came out, and a few days after that the song followed. I recorded my acoustic and vocals at home and Jerry Kee did the rest in his studio in Mebane, NC. This is one of the most fun ones to play with my band, and it’s really cathartic to sing that chorus,” says Ware.
The first song from Luz de Vida II: A Compilation to Benefit Homicide Survivorstitled "La Nuit Pour Nous Deux" by Gabriel Naïm Amor, featuring Beth Goodfellow, John Convertino of Calexico, and Thøger Tetens Lund of Giant Sand is out now and available on all digital music platforms. Listen to the song below, and then CLICK HERE to pre-order Luz de Vida II on vinyl through Zia Records, or the Digital LP via Bandcamp and receive the first single today. All proceeds raised from Luz de Vida II album sales will go toward services for advocacy, support, and emergency assistance for families impacted by homicide provided by Homicide Survivors, Inc.
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-bellyand 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...
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.
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 informedthe 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].
“capital R” releases this Fri., Aug. 27. Pre-orders are availablehere.
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.
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?
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.
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:
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.
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, includingAstro 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
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.
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 Bluehas 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!
