Author Archives: Rachel Hurley

Tiger High – Carry My Love from Alex 42 on Vimeo.

Filmed by Josh Beckemeyer
Directed by Jake Vest
Edited by Alex Pilkington

Projector images by Max Capacity: maxcapacity.tumblr.com/​

americangrapefruit.com
trashycreatures.com

East coast indie rockers Stuyvesant dropped by this afternoon to play a stripped down set for us before they tear the roof off of The Buccaneer tonight with Burning Sands and Harlan T. Bobo’s new rock outfit the Fuzz. We chatted about the digital age, vinyl records and the marriage of art and music. The guys were super nice and we’re really looking forward to their show TONIGHT!

The Warm Up with Stuyvesant by TVD-Memphis

Stuyvesant with Jody Stephens

We were actually glad the entire line-up of River City Extension did not show up for our interview – we would have never been able to fit them all into frame! Joe and Mike were more than generous with their time and we had a lot fun chatting with them! We hope that some day soon they’ll visit our River City! We could not find a video that did their Bonnaroo performance justice (even from the very back of the audience we could feel their energy!) so we grabbed a vid from another show to share with you! Also, check out their Daytrotter Session!

1. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain (Vice)

Produced by big time producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Duran Duran), OG’s (Original Garagers) Black Lips come charging back with their latest. Black Lips played Gonerfest 1 way back in 2004, too many people crammed into the Buccaneer!

2. John Paul Keith – The Man That Time Forgot (Big Legal Mess)

New! Not produced by Mark Ronson, but solid action from Memphis’ top picker and singer. And nicest guy to boot!

3. Axemen – Three Virgins (Siltbreeze)

Amazingly chaotic band from New Zealand originally released by Flying Nun but sounding nothing like the skeletal pop of The Clean, Tall Dwarfs, Chills, etc. Seeing the Axemen in Memphis in 2010 was one of the least-likely events I have ever attended. Still don’t really know how that happened. Bonus: They were great!

4. Happy Thoughts (Hozac)

Simple, perfect Midwest guitar pop. So happy to finally have a full album from these folks.

5. Human Eye – They Came From The Sky (Sacred Bones)

Timmy Vulgar sorta ran a parallel course with Jay Reatard, both starting out as raw mean punkers and growing from there, but where Jay went pop, Timmy aimed for the sky. Watching him control a huge swarm of guitar live a few months ago, Joe T proclaimed “The 60s had Hendrix. We’ve got Timmy Vulgar!” Impressive.

We’ve been fans of White Denim since we saw them play at SXSW way back in 2007. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the chance to see them since. Fortunately, they are playing their very first gig in Memphis tonight at The Hi-Tone. The band was gracious enough to stop by Ardent Studios this afternoon to do something they have never done before: play stripped down alternative versions of some of our favorite songs from their brand new album D (they also let us in on why they named it that!). So take a listen, and then go check them out TONIGHT! We know it’s going to be a great show!!

http://soundcloud.com/tvd-memphis/the-warm-up-with-white-denim

Photo by Dan Russo

See Also:

1. The Warm Up with Autumn Defense
2. The Warm Up with Parachute Musical
3. The Warm Up with Carolina Story
4. The Warm Up with Miwa Gemini

So, we met up with Austin’s Band of Heathens in the mid-afternoon and found a shady place backstage to cozy up with them. They seemed to finally loosen up right at the end of the segment, so we look forward to our next meeting when we are certain they will be buying us a drink and offering us a ride home. After you check out our interview watch their backstage acoustic performance for Lightening 100!

This week’s pick is actually for an opening band but the show just happens to be FREE! So, yeah, so they kinda even themselves out.

Bulleit Bourbon in sponsoring the show (thus the free-ness) tomorrow night at the Hi-Tone with local rockers The Dirty Streets and some of Atlanta’s finest, Ponderosa. Ponderosa are the real-deal rock and roll band, through and through. Their songs are hook-laden southern rock gems, their musicianship well beyond their years, and their shows are like wild parties held in your back yard. New West Records put out their Joe Chiccarelli-produced debut, Moonlight Revival, at the beginning of the year and it’s really, really awesome. Check out the band’s EPK below:

I’m telling you, if you love real rock and roll done by true southern boys, you don’t wanna miss these dudes. And it’s free, so there’s no risk! Doors at 9pm, 18+.

Ponderosa Site / The Dirty Streets Facebook

“They say when everything is taken from you, you are given a gift,” said Sal Scalora, an artist, when being interviewed in the documentary Make, about another artist, the Prophet Royal Robertson. The truth of the statement made me flinch and elegantly summarized the spirit of the entire documentary. Robertson and three other artists: Hawkins Bolden, Judith Scott, and Ike Morgan are featured in this film, each of them disabled and each compelled to create visual art using various media. The film alternates among the artists, all in different cities, allowing the viewer to get acquainted with the artist, their disability, and, of course, their art works. Coming eventually is the “turn,” which gives the exposition of a key piece of information, thus far omitted, regarding each of the artists which is very much worth waiting for as the introductions are somewhat slow at times.

Of specific local interest is Hawkins Bolden, a Memphis artist who is one of the four artists featured in the film. Bolden, who lost his vision in childhood began making scarecrows out of objects he would find in the trash, such as: pots, pans, garden hoses, and clothing. He placed the scarecrows in the backyard garden of his home. Bolden had intense focus on the eyes of his scarecrows (usually the heads of the scarecrows were made of pots or buckets and the eyes were represented by drilled holes), sometimes there were forty or more eyes on a scarecrow. The somewhat haunting pieces that Bolden constructed are given more meaning after watching his process: from finding the materials to forming them into a mixed-media sculpture, all done without the benefit of sight and in the midst of abject poverty.

Make is a truly moving testament to the perseverance of man’s bond with art and the innate force that drives us to create in order to be fulfilled. In truth to that sentiment, John MacGregor, PhD. said in the film regarding Judith Scott’s connection with her art: “There is no doubt at all that she’s found meaning in this life of hers, something most of us never do manage to do.”

Official Website for “Make” / “Make” Page at Asthmatic Kitty Records

We ran into Beats Antique backstage at Bonnaroo and they graciously agreed to sit down and do our 5 Questions With segment. The guys were super cool and we were really excited to see their performance later that night. We were blown away at the amount of people that showed up to see them play later and could not get anywhere near the stage – like seriously, no. where. near. So, after you check out the interview – take a look at a video from their New Year’s Eve performance in San Francisco. Is this what their Bonnaroo performance looked like?

We couldn’t tell you.

Check out the debut album, 12 Magnificent Songs, from Clay Otis & the Showbiz Lights featuring some of Memphis’ favorite musicians, including members of Tiger High, Jump Back Jake, and The Bulletproof Vests. The band describes their sound as, “With an eclectic range of song and sounds, ranging from cleansing, sharp synthesizer riffs to gritty post-punk disco guitar riffs, bass lines, and vocals Clay Otis & the Showbiz Lights manage to merge worlds to create something soulful, yet cosmopolitan, and new, yet familiar.” We approve.

12 Magnificent Songs by Clay Otis & the Showbiz Lights

Austin’s psych-rock kings The Black Angels will grace us with their presence at the Hi-Tone tonight, June 9th. It looks like they booked a few shows between Austin and Manchester, TN on their way to play Bonnaroo this weekend. But since they got a couple days, their dark, atmospheric rock show is coming to Memphis for us to enjoy.

The band’s third and latest album, Phosphene Dream, came out in September last year, debuting at #50 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. It was their first release on the label they started called Blue Horizon Records. Local metal powerhouses The Powers That Be will be opening. Tickets are $10 in advance, $13 at the door. Doors are at 9pm, 18+.

Tickets / The Black Angels

One of our favorite finds of the last few weeks is folk songstress Miwa Gemini and her beautiful new album Fantastic Lies of Grizzly Rose. We were delighted when we found out that she’d be playing at The Buccaneer Lounge with another local chanteuse Amy Lavere TONIGHT!. We became even more excited when Miwa agreed to stop by Ardent Studios to share a few songs with us. She’ll be touring all summer long so be sure to take a listen to this very intimate acoustic set recorded exclusively for TVD.

http://soundcloud.com/tvd-memphis/the-warmup-with-miwa-gemini

When Grace Askew walks into the room, people take notice. She has a presence, mysterious in a Faulknerian Southern Gothic kind of way. One can tell, while watching this scene play out, she knows she is aware of the onlookers. She’s used to the attention, yet wishing she had an instrument and a microphone between the gawkers and herself. She is a studied guitarist, she writes her own lyrics, and at twenty-four, the Memphis Singer/Songwriter just released her sophomore effort, Grace Askew & The Black Market Goods.

The self-titled album was produced entirely by herself and the members of her backing band, The Black Market Goods, which includes Richard Ford, Jesse Williams, Logan Hanna, and J.D. Westmoreland. Through the production of this album, Askew says the band members’ roles and strengths became apparent: Hannah’s incredible leadership and focus, Ford’s multi-instrumental talent, Westmoreland’s “road warrior” ability to tour, and William’s eclectic taste in music of all genres, all strengthened the unity of the band. Together they took a creative venture on the sound of the album. Explains Askew, “We went back to the roots of Memphis, the bluesiness. We cut it with the slap-back rockabilly reverb on it, the Sun Studios kind of sound.”

The album has also been influenced by the old Mississippi Delta Blues greats which Askew says she has been listening to and studying as of late, artists such as Blind Willie Johnson, Howling Wolf, and Lightning Hopkins. This is all apparent when listening to her album. Her vocals are reminiscent of Shelby Lynne of ten years ago: deep, raspy, soulful, and at times, sweet. There is also a hint of the darkness that Lynne holds apparent in her work: the Southern Gothicism but also a blues esthetic at work. Though most of the songs on the album are slower ballads, the versatility of her band allows the sway between tempos and genres from the upbeat “countrypolitan” in “Tennessee Got the Best of Me” to a slow bossa nova in “The Road.” The band and the instrumentation gives the album huge strength and power, reminding me of a Lucinda Williams album such as Essence in the comfort, ease, and familiarity among the artists; a solidarity that one can hear. I am a huge fan of Williams and Lynne, southerners embracing a southern sound and genre, and I get the impression from listening to the album, that this style of music is much more organic for Askew, less of a stretch than her previous Tom Waits inspired projects. Like garlic cloves, I can only tolerate so much Tom Waits before it is overpowering. Like barbeque, good alt-country sung by a woman is something I could do everyday.

The lyricism on Grace Askew & The Black Market Goods is both thought provoking and dark, showing promise and maturity.

Howl by Grace Askew

Askew is only twenty-four and I feel that there is an entire element to be added to her already promising lyrics by further life experience (also known as the ultimate school of hard knocks), for songwriting (from pen to production) is of extreme importance to her.

“Usually it’s like picking up bits and pieces of things that I’ve heard or that people say or that come to me when I’m driving somewhere and I’ll write it down and remember it. I have to feel like I’m cut off from the world when I write. I don’t like to be around people at all. I have to feel like I’m off in the middle of nowhere, all by myself writing. One of my favorite places is when I’m driving for hours on end, I guess it’s the physical aspect: you’re driving but your mind can wander,” Askew says of her songwriting method.

Her latest work is indicative of a songwriter who has found the right path to finding and exploiting their “voice” as a writer.

“I’ve hit on what I’m most interested in: the darker side of people’s lives and character’s lives, but I don’t think that I am finished finding topics to write about. There’s always going to be new people to meet and new places to venture to. I don’t think I’ve finished finding my voice, that’s the simplest way to say it.”

The album, Grace Askew and the Black Market Goods was released on May 27. This summer, Askew and The Black Market Goods will be touring New Mexico as well as Arkansas. Askew has previously released two EP’s, Wasted Lipstick and Hawthorne, as well as a full length album, Until They Lay Me Down to Rest.

Great deals at Shangri-la Records this week including a new shipment from Sub Pop, the new cassette from local favorites Tiger High, and a reissue from Queens of the Stone Age. Jared McStay gives examples how to get your vinyl fix without breaking the bank.

We were really excited to have Intimate Stranger visit us to chat about their multicultural background and some of their earliest influences. They are super laid back and we think they had a great time hanging out in the studio for the afternoon. We hope they come back to visit again soon! The band is in Memphis to play a show at The Young Avenue Deli tonight!

The Warm Up with Intimate Stranger by TVD-Memphis