This past weekend I dropped some jams on some cool kids at the Sycamore House on Allison Hill for their fundraiser benefiting the community garden they are starting. Before that happened, Matt Wagner, Craig Kile & co. played a set, ending with this hilarious acoustic rendition of Das Racist's "Combination Pizza Hut & Taco Bell":
You can catch Matt later tonight at First Fridays in the Fishbowl, along with Jeff Waters and Natalie Ness (who bailed on The Fox and the Hound Show this week due to illness). The residents from the house played a short set of covers as well before we all adjourned upstairs for a great performance by Darry Miller & the Veil. As many people as possible packed into the loft, overflowing down the hall and stairs to see/hear what was universally described as an incredibly tight performance. Since the last time I saw them at my birthday show, the band has picked up a new drummer and added Derek Jenkins on keys and background vocals, filling out their sound with both a blues feel and pop sheen I never knew they lacked. Despite my jury-rigged microphone stands and the small space, the guys played a great show. Definitely catch them live at Drexel on the 7th if you can!My set to close the show included this song, among other goodies:
Showing posts with label Phil Wilmot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil Wilmot. Show all posts
3/24/11
Sycamore House Garden Fundraiser
photo of Darry Miller & the Veil courtesy of Reverb NationI'll probably be playing jams like this:
3/2/11
KNO Clothing Video
Remember KNO Clothing? Jared, Liz and I DJed their launch party a while back, Phil Wilmot has done some modeling for them, and they are a great organization headed by some genuinely nice guys. They are involved in a contest to win $100,000 in marketing help, and need as many views as possible of this video by March 20th in order to advance to the semi-finals. Watch, tell your friends, and get involved with this wonderful organization working to end homelessness!
2/27/11
Show Review: Nathan Leigh
On Tuesday, Phil Wilmot booked Nathan Leigh to play at The Sycamore House's community dinner. The intimate living room environment and the shared meal helped give even more of a communal feeling than the last time at the SALT House [review here]. I only caught the first few songs because I had to go set up for The Fox and the Hound Show, but both the old and new tunes sounded great. Nathan played a 3-song set (two originals and a cover) in the second hour of the show, as did Alex Brubaker in the first hour, but we were unable to record properly due to technical difficulties-I assure you both performances were phenomenal. "Family of Ghosts" was my favorite of the new tunes Leigh played, yet another example of his great writing. His live show has improved over the past few months, though perhaps this owes more to increased confidence in a more traditional house-show setting as opposed to sitting on top of a dresser in a dorm room. Either way, he puts on a good show, and I look forward to his next tour. In the meantime, check out his hilarious tour blog, "The Adventures of Pen Pen".
12/24/10
Show Review: SALT House #2/Fox and the Hound Live
My second time providing audio for a SALT House Concert was actually at the Reconciliation House. Phil had booked Jamie Kent & the Options and Chicken Little to play on a Tuesday night, and then found out he had to go on a required field trip to NYC for a class that day. Resulting lack of publicity and coordination led to Jared and I hanging out with Jamie Kent and his band at the Recon House until more people got there. When "more people" meant one girl, one guy who lived there, and Chicken Little, we decided it would be better to kick this punk rock style and have them play an unauthorized show onstage at the Union.
Jamie Kent & the Options captured the attention of those eating and studying around the room quickly with their breezy, upbeat blues-folk, good humor, and a singalong Beatles cover. Their set ran into the time for our radio show, so Jared went and kicked things off on-air while I watched their merch. Just after Chicken Little took the stage to play what I can only describe as polka punk, I took Jamie's trio into the V to set them up for a live performance. The duo had the Union clapping and stomping along in no time; I only wish I had gotten to see more of their set.
Having two bands on air was complicated by the fact that we already had two artists scheduled to come on the show to interview/perform to advertise an upcoming show at The Station: Stacey Dee and Suzi Brown. Somehow we managed to squeeze in a few songs from each artist, DJing occasionally in between. Stacey and Suzi collaborated on each other's singer-songwriter material and Suzi played some intense fingerstyle guitar (a la Kaki King), and we ended the night by recording all of them doing a liner for The Fox and the Hound Show that you should be hearing on air next semester.
Jamie Kent & the Options captured the attention of those eating and studying around the room quickly with their breezy, upbeat blues-folk, good humor, and a singalong Beatles cover. Their set ran into the time for our radio show, so Jared went and kicked things off on-air while I watched their merch. Just after Chicken Little took the stage to play what I can only describe as polka punk, I took Jamie's trio into the V to set them up for a live performance. The duo had the Union clapping and stomping along in no time; I only wish I had gotten to see more of their set.
Having two bands on air was complicated by the fact that we already had two artists scheduled to come on the show to interview/perform to advertise an upcoming show at The Station: Stacey Dee and Suzi Brown. Somehow we managed to squeeze in a few songs from each artist, DJing occasionally in between. Stacey and Suzi collaborated on each other's singer-songwriter material and Suzi played some intense fingerstyle guitar (a la Kaki King), and we ended the night by recording all of them doing a liner for The Fox and the Hound Show that you should be hearing on air next semester.
12/22/10
Show Reviews: SALT House Concert
Now that I'm moving into the SALT House in Harrisburg, it may seem a little late to cover these as an outsider, but since I was supposed to run audio in both cases it doesn't make much difference. My friend Phil Wilmot, formerly of hardcore act Judges as well as folkies The Legacy of Joseph-Michel Montgolfier [reviewed here], used some contacts in the underground house-show scene to get touring bands to drop by on their way to more important places in exchange for a place to crash.
The first show I was involved in warmed up with acoustic sets by Kyle Rictor, Nathan Leigh, and local Trunks & Tales in an apartment before moving downstairs for the sonic assault of punks Run, Forever and post-rockers Deadhorse.
Rictor, a Messiah dropout based out of Nashville, performs with backing vocals by his wife Kelsey in an intimate style perfectly suited to the small room. Their intertwining voices mesmerized the small group that gathered with gentle guitar accompaniment that belied his imposing frame. His songs have since been regularly featured on The Fox and the Hound Show, and will soon make it onto a mixtape for my girlfriend.
Nathan Leigh is Brooklyn to the core, splitting time between indie-pop outfit Super Mirage and Latin post-punk band A Thousand Ships. With day jobs designing sound both for musical theater and Keroscene Records, his sheer output of work is incredible. Though on record much of his solo work is electronic-inflected, Leigh live is an engaging acoustic act, filled with anecdotes about his songs peppered with a biting wit. He has also received some airplay from my radio show, and "Letters, Postcards, Telegrams" will be on the aforementioned mixtape. Letters, Postcards, Telegrams by nathanleigh
Trunks & Tales, once a duo, is now the solo project of Daniel Anderson, whose negative songs about touring are only matched by willingness to play shows. His most recent effort is an album of covers of everything from Further Seems Forever to Counting Crows, which, like the rest of his music, is available at whatever price you choose to name on Bandcamp.
[insert reference to previous Monty Python reference and how much more appropriate it would be here if I hadn't already used it in the previous show review]
I actually did run sound for Run, Forever, putting my 1100 watts to use to make the vocal audible over their guitar and bass amps and drum kit in the tiny space of the SALT House lobby. After a brief but enthusiastic set, my task switched to making a keyboard audible over the wail of postrock guitars being put out by Deadhorse. Since their enormous amps and proclivity for walls of distortion made this virtually impossible, it did not surprise me when we were shut down after a song or two due to noise ordinances of some kind. I probably would have been more impressed with both acts in a larger room, but in such close quarters their emphasis on noise and disregard for my equipment began to make me feel like an old man.
The first show I was involved in warmed up with acoustic sets by Kyle Rictor, Nathan Leigh, and local Trunks & Tales in an apartment before moving downstairs for the sonic assault of punks Run, Forever and post-rockers Deadhorse.
Rictor, a Messiah dropout based out of Nashville, performs with backing vocals by his wife Kelsey in an intimate style perfectly suited to the small room. Their intertwining voices mesmerized the small group that gathered with gentle guitar accompaniment that belied his imposing frame. His songs have since been regularly featured on The Fox and the Hound Show, and will soon make it onto a mixtape for my girlfriend.
Nathan Leigh is Brooklyn to the core, splitting time between indie-pop outfit Super Mirage and Latin post-punk band A Thousand Ships. With day jobs designing sound both for musical theater and Keroscene Records, his sheer output of work is incredible. Though on record much of his solo work is electronic-inflected, Leigh live is an engaging acoustic act, filled with anecdotes about his songs peppered with a biting wit. He has also received some airplay from my radio show, and "Letters, Postcards, Telegrams" will be on the aforementioned mixtape. Letters, Postcards, Telegrams by nathanleigh
Trunks & Tales, once a duo, is now the solo project of Daniel Anderson, whose negative songs about touring are only matched by willingness to play shows. His most recent effort is an album of covers of everything from Further Seems Forever to Counting Crows, which, like the rest of his music, is available at whatever price you choose to name on Bandcamp.
[insert reference to previous Monty Python reference and how much more appropriate it would be here if I hadn't already used it in the previous show review]
I actually did run sound for Run, Forever, putting my 1100 watts to use to make the vocal audible over their guitar and bass amps and drum kit in the tiny space of the SALT House lobby. After a brief but enthusiastic set, my task switched to making a keyboard audible over the wail of postrock guitars being put out by Deadhorse. Since their enormous amps and proclivity for walls of distortion made this virtually impossible, it did not surprise me when we were shut down after a song or two due to noise ordinances of some kind. I probably would have been more impressed with both acts in a larger room, but in such close quarters their emphasis on noise and disregard for my equipment began to make me feel like an old man.
4/19/09
Show Review: Spring Arts Day
This one may be a little biased, since I set up and ran sound for this event, along with DJing in between sets. Spring Arts Day is an annual festival put on by Messiah's Student Activities Board featuring live music, food, games, tie-dye, and other activities. This year the music was curated by WVMM, Messiah College radio (thus my involvement as a manager).
First up was a short acoustic set from The Legacy of Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, including singer-songwriters Phil Wilmot and Sincerely, Morgan featuring guitar, mandolin, ukelele, and a miniature banjo along with vocals from all three members present. Next was a jam session by singer-songwriter Kyle Morgan (vocals and guitar), Ethan Lichtenberger (bass), and SAB concert executive Steve Harpine (drummer of Pompeii & the Ashes). They mostly improvised, though they also covered The Beatles' "Come Together" and another song I didn't recognize. Following the jam, my fellow United Voices of Praise tenor Bro Calvin did a short set of gospel music with his brother. After a long break, Cole Cash came on to end the show, playing their brand of progressive rock. Bassist Michael Helms is one of my fellow philosophy students and occasionally joins me in jam sessions at the radio station. Though Cole Cash was not exactly a crowd favorite, probably due to their different sound and lyrical content, their between-song banter, story-telling, and intensity made it an interesting show. Expect upcoming Homeboy Music profiles on several of these.
Here's a video of Bro Calvin performing at Coffeehouse a while back featuring a verse by my man Ben Stolz (aka Prodigy of the Street Disciples):
First up was a short acoustic set from The Legacy of Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, including singer-songwriters Phil Wilmot and Sincerely, Morgan featuring guitar, mandolin, ukelele, and a miniature banjo along with vocals from all three members present. Next was a jam session by singer-songwriter Kyle Morgan (vocals and guitar), Ethan Lichtenberger (bass), and SAB concert executive Steve Harpine (drummer of Pompeii & the Ashes). They mostly improvised, though they also covered The Beatles' "Come Together" and another song I didn't recognize. Following the jam, my fellow United Voices of Praise tenor Bro Calvin did a short set of gospel music with his brother. After a long break, Cole Cash came on to end the show, playing their brand of progressive rock. Bassist Michael Helms is one of my fellow philosophy students and occasionally joins me in jam sessions at the radio station. Though Cole Cash was not exactly a crowd favorite, probably due to their different sound and lyrical content, their between-song banter, story-telling, and intensity made it an interesting show. Expect upcoming Homeboy Music profiles on several of these.
Here's a video of Bro Calvin performing at Coffeehouse a while back featuring a verse by my man Ben Stolz (aka Prodigy of the Street Disciples):
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)