Threats & Promises

Music News And Gossip

originally published January 18, 2006

It’s anyone’s guess as to whether our town will remain unseasonably warm this week, but all you really need to know is that the Athens music scene is hot this week. Just check out the scorching news below…

A Night Of Nackashi: On Wednesday, Jan. 18, folks should head over to the fabulous 40 Watt for what I’m referring to as “A Night of Nackashi.” Beginning at 9 p.m. (seriously), the evening will start with a screening of Tim Nackashi’s award-winning documentary Dirty Work. Co-directed with David Sampliner and produced by Edward Norton, the film follows three men around and explores their ability to find a niche doing jobs most folks would find completely undesirable. If you’ve ever seen an episode of The Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” then you have a rough idea of what this film covers. However, the film preceded the television series by almost a year, so you can decide for yourself who stole whose idea. After the show, Nackashi and his brother Jay will resurrect their critically acclaimed band Empire State, of which neither hide nor hair has been seen in a very long time. Augmenting the pair will be musicians Brent Jones and Jesse Flavin. This event is an absolute steal at only $3, so go, or kick yourself if you don’t.

Welcome to Town: Indie label Just Me Records, formerly of southern Florida, moved up here to Athens over this past summer, but is only just now starting to, um, get its groove back. Evidence of this grooviness is the new split release on the label between Athens band Captain #1, the brainchild of Tim Denson from Florida’s acclaimed Starlite Motel and Just Me Records honcho, and Long Beach, CA songwriter Enoch. Called Colored What You Want: A Color By Number Adventure, the album, according to Denson, “merges art and music and expands on the idea of listening to an album.” Musically, the two acts share a common love of low-fidelity, acoustic indie stuff with a dash of psychedelic flavor. Both are currently on a month-long tour of many states.

Never Fear, Neff Is Here: Longtime Athens member of numerous bands and much loved musician John Neff has announced that his solo album should be ready for release this summer. Neff spent the summer of 2005 working on the basic tracks, a process that included clocking a couple of days with David Barbe over at Chase Park Transduction. The as-yet-untitled album features a veritable who’s who of Athens musicians including Nick Bielli, Ben Mize, Philip McArdle, William Tonks, Ben Spraker, Jon Mills, Brant Rackley, David Gilliard, Marcus Thompson and Neil Golden. When this is released, it will be welcomed with open arms.

Two Nights The Night: Atlanta label Stickfigure is hosting a three-night “Stickfigure Showcase” at Atlanta’s Drunken Unicorn on Jan. 26, 27 and 28. While the lineup for both nights is rock solid, it seems a little strange that the label would make an official “showcase” out of the nights, considering so many of these bands play this venue fairly often as it is. Either way, on Thursday, Jan. 26, the Atlanta-band-heavy lineup is Deerhunter, Airoes, Zandosis, Retconned and The Sublimator. On Friday, Jan. 27, Athens gets its due when the schedule for the night features Coulier, S.I.D.S. and I Would Set Myself On Fire For You. Loganville-area band Me And Him Call It Us also plays that night. Saturday, Jan. 28 sees Atlanta taking over again with Blame Game, Electrosleep International, Tenth to the Moon and Big Penguin. Yeah, that’s a lot of bands, and it is three days long, but the trip will pay for itself several times over in both quality entertainment and collectible scene points.

Well, Awesome!: In a move designed to keep all you guys from going around half-naked this winter, Full Moon Studio and the Oconee School of Rock are now offering T-shirts and stickers for sale. If you purchase a T-shirt for a mere $10, you get a free sticker, too. This all goes to support the studio that has been a favorite of local acts for a long time. For more info, please see www.netnik.com/fullmoon.

Get On It: I’m’a keep reminding you until it’s well past due, but Ghostmeat Records is putting together this year’s AthFest CD again, and is currently accepting submissions. You’ve got until Jan. 31 to submit tracks, and here are some specifics: submissions must be on a CD and accompanied by the official submission form available at www.athfest.com, can be dropped off at Musician’s Warehouse downtown and, as always, you’re encouraged to submit exclusive or previously unreleased songs. And you’ve gotta be an Athens band, of course. This year marks AthFest’s 10th anniversary, and the folks putting it all together are looking to make this a big one. Don’t miss out.

Finally: Legendary Atlanta art-rock/new wave band Vietnam has finally seen its debut album released. Although the band first formed more than 25 years ago, its memory is currently being kept alive by member Stan Satin, and he’s the one orchestrating this release. Trust me when I tell you that Vietnam sounds as fresh as anything happening these days in similar arenas. The album Past Away is available in two digipak formats: one with a six-panel fold-out cover and another one hand-painted and autographed. As you read this, it should already be available in local stores and via CDBaby on the Internet. Sample the sounds over at www.myspace.com/vietnam80.

Let The Benefits Begin: On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Tasty World will host a benefit for Hemophilia of Georgia. The lineup for this show is Count Kellam, Last November, Brett Schieber and Stacey Plunkett. The cost is only $5, and all proceeds will benefit the organization. This is a very cool benefit and not merely because of the talent involved; hemophilia is one among many often overlooked afflictions among the population and it’s nice to see some folks bringing attention to it and helping out.

And we’re off! As usual, get your news in early and often. Always include my name of Threats & Promises in the subject line of all email correspondence. Where’s your mama gone via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-9523, ext. 203, or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb

Gordon Lamb