Threats & Promises

Music News And Gossip

originally published July 5, 2006

As is the case every few weeks, I think I’ll not begin with a big fancy introduction. Of course, by even talking about it, I’ve already done it. You have to be careful with this stuff. Safety instructions below…

Battle Royale: There's something interesting going down at Tasty World on Thursday, July 6. The first installment of the Beat Wars Producer Battle series takes place, and it puts an interesting spin on hip hop battling. Instead of emcees or deejays facing off, Beat Wars showcases the talents of local producers. Organized by local guys Travis William and John Vereen, Beat Wars took off after Vereen saw a similar event at Atlanta's Apache Café. "It'll be kind of set up like a deejay battle," says William, "but you get to play a minute or 30 seconds of your hottest tracks." The crowd's reaction and the response of two expert judges will decide the outcome of each battle. Everything starts at 10 p.m., and producers interested in taking part should note there's a $25 entry fee and a minimum requirement of five tracks. But hey, there's also a cash prize. William says he and Vereen expect 10 to 15 producers to compete, and would like to host Beat Wars every two months or so if it takes. "We hope we're going to get a little mix of everything, some rock producers, some hip hop, or anything," says William. For more details or to sign up, contact him at 706-351-9455 or twill6@uga.edu.

More Hymns: Zachary Gresham and Philip Brown, both of local band Summer Hymns, recently took a drive up to Nashville to witness the mastering of their newest album. Apparently several rumored titles had been making the rounds, so they wanted to put those erroneous ideas in their place and announce the final decision. Backward Masks is the album's name, and the goal is to see the 12-song disc released by the end of the year.

Logan’s Run: Chicago’s Fundamental Records, which has now emerged as the most prolific purveyor of Athens-based music, is set to drop new recordings by local legend Jack Logan. Logan’s newest recording project is called Third Creature and its album, available on-line in July and set to hit retail stores in the fall, is called Orthodox Garage. As a bonus, those who purchase the disc will receive a full live show by the Logan-headed project Monday Night Recorders taped on Sept. 9, 2005 at the fabulous 40 Watt. The bonus disc also includes 11 songs from various recording sessions of that group. Folks so inclined can preview the new album; head over to www.fundamentalrecords.com.

Klein’s Doing Fine: Local troubadour Adam Klein weighed in recently about his current travels and it looks like he’s really intending on making a solid go of it since the release of his debut album Distant Music earlier this year. This past Memorial Day, Klein played famed Cambridge, MA folk club Passim’s and he’ll return there over Labor Day. He’s also taken a quick trip to the Pacific Northwest, hitting Portland and Seattle, and this month, he’ll do his first small-scale tour up the East Coast. Joining Klein on his trip is fellow guitarist and lap steel player Raphael McGregor, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Klein will hit North Carolina, Washington, DC, New York City, Saratoga Springs and Brooklyn, NY. Check him out on-line via www.adam-klein.com.

Good Showing Folks: Venice Is Sinking is currently enjoying an upswing on the national scene. The band's full-length album Sorry About the Flowers saw a national release two weeks ago, and as of press time, was ranked at No. 84 on the College Music Journal charts. The band was also featured as “Band of the Day” a few weeks back over at Spin.com, so I guess that’s nothing to sneeze at either.

Bastards: Geoff Carr (AKA DJ Do It), the man behind the Go Bar's very popular Indie Rock Karaoke needs your help. Sometime between June 15 and June 22, Carr’s external hard drive (containing nearly all the tracks for Indie Rock Karaoke), several microphones, microphone cords, an extension cord and stereo plugs were stolen. This equipment was bundled together in a large black bag that Carr used to tote it around. Basically the situation is this: if this equipment is not recovered, then Indie Rock Karaoke is almost certainly a thing of the past. Carr, while dedicated to his craft, is also a graduate student subsisting with very little leisure time. Since the hard drive itself represents weeks of compiling, Carr won't have the time to redo his work. Please, if you hear of anything or come across anyone selling some or all of this equipment, contact Carr via djdoit@gmail.com or call 706-372-5465.

Pand-tastic: So if you were too scattered to catch Panda during AthFest and you were too caught up in July 4 festivities to catch the band last weekend at the 40 Watt, you've got one more chance before bandleader Sanni Baumgärtner heads back to Berlin. Her new pop band - whose U.S. incarnation features current and former members of Hope For Agoldensummer, Phosphorescent, Calliope Fair and, naturally, Baumgärtner's past act Audition With Max Reinhardt - has one more gig at Atlanta's EARL on Thursday, July 6, opening for the Mendoza Line.

Video Killed the Radio Star: Chris Pierson, a singer-songwriter from Athens, has been selected out of a pool of 15,000 contestants as one of the 15 finalists on the CBS show "Rockstar Supernova," premiering Wednesday, July 5 at 8 p.m. A Clarke Central High graduate, Pierson attended Georgia College in Milledgeville, and that's where he first picked up a guitar and started to write songs. The big deal about "Rockstar Supernova"? Whoever wins this thing gets to be the lead singer for Supernova, the new band to feature former Motley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist and current Voivod guy Jason Newsted and onetime Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clark. More info at www.rockstar.msn.com.

Drive Safely: If you feel like venturing north up Hwy. 441 a little ways for some music and karaoke action, then you should probably pull into a new joint named Oasis. Currently, the owners are sort of testing the waters with three hits of live music to see if it’s something they really want to do regularly, and the only upcoming shows include Dixie Wrecked (July 8), Southern Soul (July 22) and The Bearfoot Hookers (July 28). Karaoke takes place every Wednesday and Friday night hosted by some folks named Them Girls.

Play Me Some Mountain Music: Local public radio station WUGA 91.7 FM is set to host a live taping of the very popular program "Mountain Stage." The 20-year-old program is generally taped in Charleston, WV, but host Larry Groce will make the trip to Athens and tape the show live at UGA Hodgson Hall (located in the performing arts complex at UGA) on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. Although the only performer announced so far is Carbon Leaf, the show typically includes about five musical performances per two-hour show. Although it’s called by a rather old-time sounding name, Mountain Stage presents a pretty diverse program and superstars such as R.E.M., Bela Fleck and John Cale have appeared on the show. For more information on all this stuff, please see www.mountainstage.org.

Also This: Flagpole music editor Chris Hassiotis will be out of the office until Tuesday, July 11, so if you try to email him or drop him voicemail and it takes a while to hear back, it's not that he doesn't love you, it's just that he loves drinking on a beach a little more (at least for a few days). For ABC listings only, please call the office and ask for Ben, or email him at abc@flagpole.com.

Over and out, dudes. Be sure to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. That’s me, breakin’ like a little girl 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