Scott Miller

w/ Sandra McCracken and Don Auber

Wednesday, January 24 @ Melting Point

originally published January 24, 2007

Scott Miller

Athenians have a unique opportunity with the current Melting Point "Uncorked & Unplugged" series. Whereas many events of this sort are the type where an established musician jumps onstage to plow through some well-known, but non-electrified, versions of his or her own songs, the Melting Point series is, while still a quiet affair, perhaps the opposite.

At these events, audiences get to hear currently rising artists perform their songs to, ostensibly, new audiences without forcing those audiences through the late-night, loud-and-crowded bar scene that usually goes hand in hand with finding new music to enjoy. In the case of Scott Miller, crowds will be able to catch an artist coming up for the second time around.

Knoxville guy Miller initially hit the almost-big time with the critically acclaimed, (and honestly not half-bad!) V-Roys, which disbanded in 1999; he now normally performs with an entire backing band known as The Commonwealth. This show is in the middle of a sizable East Coast tour for the band and although Miller has to "work" on this night, I’m sure the band, which along with Miller comprise the house band for "Blue Collar TV," will enjoy the time off.

Miller's music runs the line between bluesy rock jams and Americana-laden narratives. His current album Citation is his third for venerable Sugar Hill Records. Fans tend to pack his shows, especially in his native Tennessee, so it wouldn’t hurt to really arrive at his performance on time. Word is that Miller also engages audiences with a decent amount of storytelling. Of course, this could very well be rumor, but, if true, then this is certainly the forum to participate in such activity. Besides, The Melting Point offers half-price wine during these shows, so maybe you’ll come back with a story of your own.

Gordon Lamb

Tresor Hugo

Son 1, Sydystyk Vicious, Ayanna and DJ Set It Off

Saturday, January 27 @ The Ritz

originally published January 24, 2007

Tresor Hugo

The last time Atlanta rapper Tresor Hugo was in town, he was pushing his latest mixtape and was eager to showcase his varying vocal talents. He returns to Athens tonight to celebrate the release of his debut studio album According to My Flow, a lengthy excursion that allows his nimble delivery, most matchable to that of early Jay-Z, to marry the sounds of hip hop informed by classic sounds.

"I got a good mixture of old hip hop and almost new-school rock mixed with an element of old-school '70s rock," says Hugo, who also handled all the instrumentation and production duties for According to My Flow. "You know, when rock and R&B were almost like one - Bee Gees and Heart, all them back in that time.

"I'm thinking about what point do I want to get across with the album. I usually want to inspire people with the album, I want it to hit hard, and hit home," says Hugo. "It's more about following your dreams and not always being… you know, the world will tell you to get a job, your parents tell you to go to school, you know this person will tell you that and that person will tell you this. The moral of this album is: What's in your heart? What's your passion to do? And go out there and do it. We only have one life to live."

Hugo, who's soon to set off on a national and international tour, performs tonight backed by the Savannah/ Atlanta live hip hop band Yancy & The Breakneck Quartet, as well as Athens-area DJ Set It Off. Local emcee Son 1 (of The Renegadez) performs, as does rising Marietta rapper Sydystyk Vicious and Atlanta R&B groover Ayanna. Fort Knox acts as your ever-energetic host for the evening's festivities.

Chris Hassiotis

Converge

w/ Mastodon and Priestess

Wednesday, January 31@ 40 Watt Club

originally published January 24, 2007

Converge

Rarely does a band ever describe its own music accurately. Generally speaking, bands employ weasel-like techniques to avoid pigeonholing themselves, or to allow genre hopping. Brutally powerful outfit Converge, however, is the rare example that gets it totally right. The music Converge plays (which blends the worlds of thrash and hardcore into something more powerful than either, rather than, as is often the case, a weakened version of each) is self- described as simply “aggressive music.” That description could just as easily describe something as banal as gangsta rap, but to metal and hardcore fans, underground aficionados and extreme-music lovers, the simplicity is clear: Converge is less interested in your labels than it is in its own music.

Although the 16-year-old band has undergone seven lineup changes, the most recent was six years ago, and the band is as solid as can be. While its star continues to rise in the metal world, Converge pointedly namechecks the essential hardcore band of the late 1980s and early 1990s - Born Against - as a core influence. In many ways, what Converge has done over the course of its six albums can be traced directly back to what Born Against was doing - while not explicitly seeking to alienate anyone, the band pulled no punches and spared no sacred cows, musically or topically. If anything, it's this characteristic that endeared the doomed Born Against to audiences and may be, similarly, an aspect of what makes Converge so admired.

Converge's newest album No Heroes is the band's second for the mammoth Epitaph Records label. Although clearly Epitaph is a few financial feet above the band's previous labels (Equal Vision, Hydra Head, Relapse, etc.), the main effect of this association seems to be, simply, that Converge now finds itself covered and reviewed in nearly all music media. The music hasn't changed; it’s just that a whole lot more people know about the band. And that’s a good thing, right?

Gordon Lamb