Threats & Promises

Music News And Gossip

originally published June 14, 2006

Let’s just jump into it this week, shall we? Jumping commences below…

Showtime: AthFest is coming up soon, and that means it's almost time for the annual Flagpole Athens Music Awards. Your votes are in and they've been counted! Head over to the full page ad in this issue to see which groups received the most votes in each category. The three most-vote-getting finalists in each category are listed, and the winners will be announced on Thursday, June 22 at the awards show taking place at the historic Morton Theatre. In addition to the presentation of the awards, the show will feature a killer lineup: Dark Meat, Phosphorescent, Producto, Mandy Jane & the Jaws of Life and Modern Skirts handle the musical performances, while several more surprises are surely in store. Full details in next week's paper, y'all.

Delayed and Detoured: Due to issues with fire code and occupancy inspections at the soon-to-be-opened club Detour, the 2006 Wired Electronic Music Festival, originally scheduled for AthFest weekend, has been postponed. Club owner Mark Bell says he anticipates Detour to be fully inspected and operational by “the end of June or early July.” The folks at Dash Productions, the local electronic music promotion team that organized the festival, are looking for a new venue and date. And naturally, Flagpole will keep you updated.

Puttin' On A Show: Local old-time country act Duke & Dawn generally performs as a duo, but on Friday, June 16, Duke and Dawn Davis will perform a full-band set at Hot Corner Coffee backed by AJ Adams on pedal steel and mandolin, Patrick Reeves on drums and Chris Enghauser on bass. Take note that this show starts promptly at 7:30 p.m. and lasts for only an hour. Rumor is that there'll be some important ears in the audience stopping by to check out how the band comes across live, so show up and give Duke & Dawn a good turnout.

Raising Funds: A benefit for the Michael Houser Music Fund, which "furthers musical opportunities for students at Athens Academy," takes place at the Georgia Bar on Thursday, June 15. Performers include Betsy Franck, Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens and Panic Fans For Food's Joshua Stack, among others. Michael Houser, Widespread Panic's founding guitarist, died in 2002, and the fund was set up to honor his contributions to local music. The acoustic sets start at 10 p.m., and the cost is $5.

Lateral Moves: Rumors of the recent Boulevard show at the 40 Watt being the band's last have been greatly exaggerated. As main man Benji Barton says, “Boulevard is very much alive and well!  The band is currently seeking a new rhythm section. Donovan [Babb] and Holden [Spaht] have decided to move on to new projects and careers. The plan is to be playing shows again by August.” In other news, the band says you can still vote once a day over at www.zigzaglive.com to help Boulevard win a showcase spot at the upcoming CMJ Music Marathon in NYC. Yes, you can vote every day until Aug. 20.

Seven And Heaven: In a very cool move, Atlanta label Rob’s House Records will soon release a 7” single by the late Nikki Sudden. Recorded last summer over at Chase Park Transduction, the tunes feature local Athens dudes Adam Musick and Chuck Bradburn from Southern Bitch along with Peter Alvanos from Fabulous Bird. The songs were among the last recorded by Sudden, who passed away suddenly a couple of months back. The songs featured on the two-track single are “Barroom Blues” and “Family Bible.” No official release date as of yet, but all pertinent info can be found over at www.robshouserecords.com

Take a Broken Heart: Local songwriter Liz Durrett contributed a track to the brand-new tribute album Easy to Be Free: The Songs of Rick Nelson. Released last week on Planting Seeds Records, the album features covers of Nelson's songs from Paul Quinn of Teenage Fanclub, John Beland of The Flying Burrito Brothers and Nic Dalton of The Lemonheads, among others. "Try (Try to Fall in Love)" was the track reinterpreted by Durrett, and more information on the disc is over at www.plantingseedsrecords.com. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the organization Cancer Care.

Stormin’ With Jorma: Nation-crossing hip hop and rock producer and Athens native Jorma Starratt has opened up a new recording studio out in Oconee County. While there’s no information on rates just yet, the engineers involved - Starratt, Hano Leathers, Pete Fancher and Steve Crawford - have all been doing this a while, so expect quality work from them. It’s a full ProTools environment, and while I’m not really a tech head, I know enough to know that the Nuemann microphones these guys have produce a sweet sound. So check ‘em out over at www.myspace.com/starrattstudio.

Showcase Showdown: Downtown Athens Recording Company has assembled a solid lineup for its showcase at this year's AthFest. “In conjunction with this showcase," says DARC co-owner Eric Friar, "we will be giving away a free CD featuring bands who are playing that night. The CD will feature quite a few unreleased new tracks and will only be available in a very limited quantity with a screen-printed cover." The show takes place on both levels of Tasty World on Saturday, June 24, features Parade, League of Evil, the Pendletons, Some Animal, Ginger Envelope, Misfortune 500, Dark Meat, Venice is Sinking, Lake City, Vicariously Through Cats and the final (sniff!) performance of Heros Severum. Be there.

Winged Aggression: The new local rocksters of Pegasuses already have one EP titled The Midnight Aquarium out, but headed into the studio with engineer Andy Baker last week to begin recording another four-song masterwork. Tentatively titled Enjoy the Reality, member Joel Hastat describes the current collection of songs as “very long, very epic. I guess you could call it aggressive pop industrial.” The band, which also includes members Jeff Tobias and Mark Dale, won’t have the EP available in time for AthFest, but plans to probably have it available by the time PopFest rolls around in August. Go check out this demon Devo over at www.myspace.com/pegasuses.

Highway Music: Commerce, GA-based singer-songwriter Ricky Fitzpatrick now has the unique honor of seeing his song “Highway 98” come a little closer to permanent memory status. Currently there is a Georgia House Resolution floating around state legislature that, if passed, would make “Highway 98” the official song of, um, Georgia Highway 98. “The nice thing,” says Fitzpatrick, “is that I happen to really enjoy the song. I like not just singing about the highway, but actually personifying it and singing to it. It feels very personal for me.” The reading of the resolution is scheduled for January 2007 and, yeah, that’s a long time from now, but fans and curious folks can check out Fitzpatrick when he plays at Borders on Sunday, June 18 at 4 p.m.

More Motor Works: As reported last week, Maserati was recently hard at work on a new album. Well, the band has finished up recording with Andy Baker, and I was lucky enough to be privy to a very early listen. My take? It’s pretty damn great. Tentatively titled Inventions for the World Outside, the album should move into the mastering phase sometime next month. Currently without a U.S. label, Maserati has no idea when the album will actually be released, but to satiate the curious, a new track is up over at www.myspace.com/maseratirocks.

More Upcoming: Looks like Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records will release Say It In Slang, the debut album from M Coast, the new project evolving out of Marshmallow Coast and involving Andy Gonzales, Sara Kirkpatrick, Derek Almstead, Emily Growden and Carlton Owens. The album might be available locally by PopFest, and will officially be in stores in September or October. Get an on-line preview at www.myspace.com/themcoast.

Getting Online: Downtown bar and music venue Last Call has unveiled a new website. Get all the latest info over at www.athenslastcall.com.

Que será, será. Be sure to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. Paint the daytime black via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 706-549-9523, ext. 203, or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb

Gordon Lamb