Tonight at The Sydney down in Benson will be a free show;Flight Metaphor with Prairies/Valleys, The Half Hearts, & Jettison Never. I've got time with a Canon DSLR and was kindly asked to take photos of the show tonight. Prairies/Valleys main man, David Shreffler, is a friend of mine and I am excited to see his music live. I hope to see you there, its a free show so really you have no excuse.
Listen to Prairies/Valleys album here.
Showing posts with label benson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benson. Show all posts
08 April 2010
17 March 2010
It's True! Whoop-Di-Doo
Last Sunday I had the chance to stop by the Barley Street Tavern for It's True!'s Big Whoop-Di-Doo. This party was put together by the boys in It's True!, along with The Reader, as a way to celebrate before heading down to Austin for SXSW. It was meant to be a listening party for the new album before it was actually released. Also, John P. Campbell showed some of his work-in-progress footage for the It's True! documentary he's been working on. Finally, the night concluded with a performance by the band. Tickets for the event were $15 (a lot for most of the shows in Benson, BST especially), but that price included the documentary viewing, a preview of the new album, a live performance, and an advanced copy of the new album once it's completed, delivered to a place of your choosing.
Let me just say, the price was well worth it. If all went according to plan, they only sold about 65 tickets to the event. When I arrived around 8:30, the place was already pretty full. People mingled while the new album played in the background. The back room of the Barley was arranged so people could sit and listen and chat and take in the music. Though I thought the album sounded great, I can't wait to get a copy so I can listen to it at home.
Next came John Campbell's documentary. He reminded us that he still had a few kinks to be worked out (since he didn't have the proper video editing software) and that it wasn't really a trailer for the documentary as much as it was a few things he'd cut together to give folks a good idea about what he'd been shooting with the band. Even though what Campbell showed was unfinished I was happy with what I saw. The 'film' included intimate footage of the band on tour; in the van and on the road, inside homes performing after hours shows, in the studio and on stage. Also included were some great interviews from the boys from It's True! - Adam, Kyle, Andrew, Karl, and Matt. There was also some great stuff from the band The Haunted Windchimes, who will be playing at the It's True! CD release next month.
(video by Beck Lowri)
Finally, there was the performance. The band was great, as usual. That being said, I think Kyle said it best when he said that it felt like they were playing a corporate event. Even though the boys put on a great show, the energy in the crowd seemed low. It could have been the fact that it was a Sunday night show, or that they'd already played the entire album, or that the band was preoccupied with the looming prospect of the road and their upcoming SXSW performances, but something seemed a bit off. I'm hoping that once the boys have Austin behind them, and everything has been finished with the album pressing, things should be back to full energy level in time for the CD release at the Waiting Room on April 30th.
If you haven't seen The Haunted Windchimes, I'd say they're reason enough to go out to the show that night. They're a great band with a unique sound. I saw them play Brad Hoshaw's CD release last year and they nearly stole the show.
All in all, it was a great night of music with great friends and a great band. The It's True! boys are headed down to Austin today for a few shows and should be back early next week. If you'd like to check it out, the band was featured on NPR's Austin 100 Mix (out of over 1,500 bands performing) and they're on the list with some pretty heavy-hitters (Sharon Jones, Raphael Saadiq, Broken Social Scene, Spoon, and She & Him, just to name a few). The stream plays the bands in alphabetical order and what I heard of the rest of the list was pretty solid. You should check it out here if you have a chance. I wish It's True! the best of luck in Austin and hope this trip means great things for them in the future.
Let me just say, the price was well worth it. If all went according to plan, they only sold about 65 tickets to the event. When I arrived around 8:30, the place was already pretty full. People mingled while the new album played in the background. The back room of the Barley was arranged so people could sit and listen and chat and take in the music. Though I thought the album sounded great, I can't wait to get a copy so I can listen to it at home.
Next came John Campbell's documentary. He reminded us that he still had a few kinks to be worked out (since he didn't have the proper video editing software) and that it wasn't really a trailer for the documentary as much as it was a few things he'd cut together to give folks a good idea about what he'd been shooting with the band. Even though what Campbell showed was unfinished I was happy with what I saw. The 'film' included intimate footage of the band on tour; in the van and on the road, inside homes performing after hours shows, in the studio and on stage. Also included were some great interviews from the boys from It's True! - Adam, Kyle, Andrew, Karl, and Matt. There was also some great stuff from the band The Haunted Windchimes, who will be playing at the It's True! CD release next month.
(video by Beck Lowri)
Finally, there was the performance. The band was great, as usual. That being said, I think Kyle said it best when he said that it felt like they were playing a corporate event. Even though the boys put on a great show, the energy in the crowd seemed low. It could have been the fact that it was a Sunday night show, or that they'd already played the entire album, or that the band was preoccupied with the looming prospect of the road and their upcoming SXSW performances, but something seemed a bit off. I'm hoping that once the boys have Austin behind them, and everything has been finished with the album pressing, things should be back to full energy level in time for the CD release at the Waiting Room on April 30th.
If you haven't seen The Haunted Windchimes, I'd say they're reason enough to go out to the show that night. They're a great band with a unique sound. I saw them play Brad Hoshaw's CD release last year and they nearly stole the show.
All in all, it was a great night of music with great friends and a great band. The It's True! boys are headed down to Austin today for a few shows and should be back early next week. If you'd like to check it out, the band was featured on NPR's Austin 100 Mix (out of over 1,500 bands performing) and they're on the list with some pretty heavy-hitters (Sharon Jones, Raphael Saadiq, Broken Social Scene, Spoon, and She & Him, just to name a few). The stream plays the bands in alphabetical order and what I heard of the rest of the list was pretty solid. You should check it out here if you have a chance. I wish It's True! the best of luck in Austin and hope this trip means great things for them in the future.
19 February 2010
AYGAMG
This is a video for the band All Young Girls Are Machine Guns. Beck Lowry IS the band. She played a show last night at the Slowdown with Little Black Stereo and Danielle Ate the Sandwich, other uke player from Colorado. Beck is a pretty great singer and you should check her out. She's got a couple shows coming up next month and also got some recognition it this week's Reader. If you're interested, you can also check out her YouTube channel here. She's got a ton of originals, a bunch of soul covers, and some local covers including It's True, Brad Hoshaw, and Midwest Dilemma.
Here's the blurb posted by Sarah Wengert from The Reader: I’ve been having a series of daydreams where I become a travel writer, or a masseuse, or work in a greenhouse — things I’ve always wanted to do, but just haven’t; less stressful antidotes to the hair-tearing pressures of my current gig managing the content for this fine paper. Another of my reoccurring daydream wishes is to play the ukulele. Local musician Rebecca Lowry is living my daydream. Curious about her act, billed All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, I contacted Lowry for the 411 on the u-k-e. “My act, as it were, is me and a ukulele,” she said. “I’ve been playing for a little over a year, writing songs for just under a year. Lowry said her influences “are largely swing-era jazz singers like Billie Holiday or Anita O’Day,” but she also loves ’50s and ’60s pop and soul. “I started off posting some covers to YouTube as I was learning how to play,” Lowry said. “Then I wrote and posted my first song. I started hanging out at Barley Street Tavern [on Mondays]. You can’t [just] play covers there so I had to start writing more songs.”
She's a pretty solid lady, a good songwriter, and she's got a great voice.
Here's the blurb posted by Sarah Wengert from The Reader: I’ve been having a series of daydreams where I become a travel writer, or a masseuse, or work in a greenhouse — things I’ve always wanted to do, but just haven’t; less stressful antidotes to the hair-tearing pressures of my current gig managing the content for this fine paper. Another of my reoccurring daydream wishes is to play the ukulele. Local musician Rebecca Lowry is living my daydream. Curious about her act, billed All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, I contacted Lowry for the 411 on the u-k-e. “My act, as it were, is me and a ukulele,” she said. “I’ve been playing for a little over a year, writing songs for just under a year. Lowry said her influences “are largely swing-era jazz singers like Billie Holiday or Anita O’Day,” but she also loves ’50s and ’60s pop and soul. “I started off posting some covers to YouTube as I was learning how to play,” Lowry said. “Then I wrote and posted my first song. I started hanging out at Barley Street Tavern [on Mondays]. You can’t [just] play covers there so I had to start writing more songs.”
She's a pretty solid lady, a good songwriter, and she's got a great voice.
11 February 2010
Found in Benson
Last night, I spent my evening sitting in Benson, at the Barley Street Tavern, surrounded by friends and regulars, finishing assembly on the newest issue of Found in Benson. I realized that I'd neglected to mention it here at the Parlor.
Found in Benson is a weekly zine that is released exclusively in Benson (in the bars, music venues, and some other businesses in the area). Each issue is different. The zine is cut and paste style. The cover is up for grabs to whoever submits an idea. The non-profit zine is published every Thursday. Content and number of copies printed relies solely upon donations and volume of submissions. To donate or submit content to be included in future issues, contact any of the staff or look for coffee cans around Benson. The staff includes Jeff Spiehs, Brad Hoshaw, Kyle Harvey, and MarQ Manner.
Here's the editor's note from the first issue:
I find myself sitting alone, after completing the first issue of the new and improved Found in Benson. Despite all of the hard work that was required, I consider myself privileged to have spent the day with good friends, sipping on coffee and discussing the many strengths of our community. The Foundry's motto of local, honest, collaborative, rings true with everyone on staff and has inspired many to support us before ever seeing the first issue.
For example, the map was acquired by actual 'foot on pavement' effort, traveling down every stretch of cement (even the scary ones) in order to piece together a comprehensive map of the downtown Benson Business district. The calendar was a result of scouring countless websites and publications to ensure that we wouldn't leave out any possibilities of being entertained. And then you have the creative elements, which often times demand the most grueling work. Poetry, cartoons, essays, music reviews, photography and more...are all contributions from friends and neighbors of the Benson community. Anyone that has spent much time in the neighborhood knows that Benson consists of some truly original thinkers and we believe that they all deserve to be celebrated and explored.
Every aspect of this publication is tailored to give the ownership to YOU. As you may have noticed we have left this week's cover blank so that YOUR hand can provide the face of Found in Benson for weeks to come. If you turn in your designs to the staff or drop them off at The Foundry, it may be featured as the cover of next week's issue.
I look forward to the next time I walk into the bar and see the regulars with a tall boy in one hand and a FIB in the other. Their eyes dancing across the pages in search of their contribution then moving on to discover the hidden talents of their friends and possibly a revolutionary idea that will change the course of their day.
We would love to hear your suggestions on how this humble 'cut and paste' underground zine can better serve the Benson community. In the coming issues we hope you will be inspired to contribute your very own voice to these pages, and submit regularly.
Best wishes,
Brad Hoshaw
So that's it. I have to say, I am really excited about the new issue. The Valentine's Day issue is new and improved - with all of the kinks from the first issue worked out - AND it's printed on pink paper! There's a new mix tape (with streaming audio on the Facebook page), drawings, poems, short stories, an advice column. It's got something for everyone (including a flash fiction piece by me). I feel like I've been waiting for something like Found in Benson to find ME for some time now. I feel privileged to be a part (albeit a small one) of this publication. So many good things are starting to happen in Benson and I look forward to so many more great things to come. Please, look for the newest FIB the next time you're in Benson and donate if you'd like to support (what I believe) is a great publication.
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