Threats & Promises

Music News And Gossip

originally published June 28, 2006

Yeah, okay, most of you are probably still nursing your ears and livers after a long AthFest weekend, but that doesn’t mean the whole world stopped. It definitely doesn’t mean Athens music news has stopped. So, while you’re sippin’ soda this week, relax and read what’s going on…

Early Birds: So thanks to the founding of this country and all, the Flagpole office will close down on Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 4. That means that all of you who want to get shows listed in the ABC music calendar section for the issue of July 5 will have to wrangle with an early deadline this week. To be listed in next week's issue, send all the pertinent info over to abc@flagpole.com by 11 a.m. on Friday, June 30.

Funked Out: So last weekend, and at the same time as AthFest, there was something scheduled at the Athens Fairgrounds called the Funk-a-delic FunkFest. If you need a hint, it focused on funk music. The day-long festival was to have featured the acts George Clinton III, Kendra Foster, Sativa, 4C, Children of Production, Brainstorm, Belita Woods and Secret Army, another all-star incarnation of the Parliament and Funkadelic family. However, the whole thing's been postponed indefinitely. That's maybe not too surprising, considering how late Clinton & Co. were to his Georgia Theatre show back in February, though. You will be kept up to date if anything's rescheduled.

Plan Early And Often: If aliens were to land in Athens during the summer, they would leave thinking all we ever did here was host festivals and enormous rock shows. To this end, do your part and make your plans now for the upcoming Team Clermont Summer Festival, which is comprised of what used to be called the Big Weekend and Blue Ribbon Ball. Although local publicity outfit and event sponsor Team Clermont offered no explanation for the name change, the company did let on that the band playing this year's ball (known colloquially as “the prom”) is the mighty Elf Power. Other performers during this year's events include Modern Skirts, Dark Meat, Man Man, LYLAS, Iron Hero, White Whale, Now It's Overhead and John Roderick of The Long Winters. Lucas Jensen of Team Clermont says, “We're working on some other folks, but we can't talk about it yet.” Which is why we’re not gonna talk about that either. The event runs Aug. 3–5 at the 40 Watt Club and the Go Bar.

A Lion And His Bro: Lionz lead guitarist Daniel Marler is currently wrapping up a full-length recording with his brother Drew Marler. The album The Bros. Marler should be released by the end of the summer. Daniel describes the music as featuring “strong harmonies, rootsy songwriting, a variety of different themes and a variety of different sounds.” Local engineer Chris Bishop is handling recording duties over at his Radium Recording facility. This marks the first major studio collaboration between the brothers, who previously stopped playing together back in 2001 in order to, well, do other things.

Experimenting Is Fun: Erstwhile Athenian and Brooklyn, NY resident Heather McIntosh (of The Instruments) is organizing a small “integrated media arts” day over at Chase Street Warehouses. Due to take place on Aug. 26, the event simply known as the Experimental Fest has put the call out for art and other media pieces. This includes video, audio, dance and music performance. A small-piece art sale, with prices between $1 and $100, is in the works also. This sounds very cool and it’s always awesome how creative the Athens community can be. So, if you’re interested, please check out www.myspace.com/theinstruments and drop her a message.

About Time, Dude: Two former members of American Erutrevo have teamed up together again to form Long Legged Woman. The guilty parties are Gabe Vodicka and Justin Flowers. So far, they’ve recorded a demo which no one has heard, but which is described by the band as noisy and psychedelic. Hell, with a name like Flowers, it’s gotta be psychedelic, right? There are loose plans to incorporate guest musicians for live shows, but the core of the group will remain Vodicka and Flowers. Before its demise, American Erutrevo had the ability to put on a mighty fine show, so it’s high time some of these guys formed something new. The band hopes to play out in July and, of course, we’ll keep you up to date on all that.

Not Necessarily Easy Riders: The Heidi Hensley Band should be rocking a little harder on Saturday, July 1 when it plays the Georgia Theatre. Why? Because although the show is open to the public with an incredibly expensive $8 advance and $10 at the door ticket cost, those folks who are attending the AMA/FIM International Women & Motorcycling Conference will get a $2 discount, and I imagine they’re gonna want some quality for their six bucks. (I know I would.) At any rate, the conference runs from June 30 to July 3 at the Classic Center, and more info can be had by looking at www.ama-cycle.org/womenc/index.asp.

Update on The Brown: Matt Hudgins, member of Brown Frown and main organizer behind Superfluous Umlaut Records, let fly this week what Brown Frown has been up to. Word is the band has recorded basic tracks for 10 (count ‘em!) new songs with local sound guy Kyle Spence and plans to record at least a few more before going through the whole mastering phase. The band next plays July 10 at the Caledonia Lounge with Houston, TX-based God’s Temple of Family Deliverance, which Hudgins describes as a “slow-ass, heavy band.” A limited number of a limited edition CD-R of unreleased Brown Frown material will be available.

Awards All Around: The Americana Music Association has added a new category to this year’s Annual Americana Honors & Awards, and Athens' own Drive-By Truckers are nominated. The category is “Duo/Group of the Year” and other nominees include Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell, Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch & Fats Kaplin and Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez. I bet you didn’t even know there was such an organization. Well, I didn’t really either. But if you go check out www.americanamusic.org, I’m sure you can learn all about it. And you can swing down to Atlanta on Thursday, July 5 and catch the Truckers opening for the Black Crowes at HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, if you're so inclined.

Well, shoot, that’s good for now. Be sure to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. Send me where the moonlight swims 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