originally published November 29, 2006

Hopefully everyone is out of their feast-induced haze and ready for the next week of Athens music news. If not, just jump in and try to acclimate. The situation begins below…

A Vocal Majority: Listen up, Flagpole readers! We want to hear from you about your past year in music. Take a minute to swing by www.flagpole.com/Survey and let us know what your favorite local albums of the past year were, and tell us about the best and worst shows you saw this year, as well as what you hope to see in local music over the next year. Your thoughts and responses will be featured in our year-end double issue. So hey, make your voice heard!

Get On The Ball: Local bands, you know I love you, but the truth is some of you can be notoriously lazy. So why not go ahead and assign one bandmember to be in charge of submitting your stuff for inclusion on next year's AthFest compilation CD, the comp of local music put out annually to promote the summer festival. All details are available over at www.athfest.com, but know that submissions will be taken until Jan. 31, 2007. And they do prefer that you at least consider submitting something previously unreleased.

Schoolin' Ya: Widespread Panic fans should take note of the show over at the Melting Point on Friday, Dec. 1, when Panic bassist Dave Schools sits in with Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons. Schools and Joseph have collaborated in the past in the band Stockholm Syndrome, and earlier this year toured together performing under the "Almost Acoustic" tour banner. Joseph, Schools and drummer Brad Rosen will mostly do Jackmormons material, but some special guests are expected to sit in on a couple of songs.

Covers And Cosmetics: A benefit show for World AIDS Day is scheduled for the fabulous 40 Watt on Friday, Dec. 1, and the lineup is pretty great. This year's event is named “Underneath the Covers” and features a host of local acts doing entire sets of cover songs by specific artists. For example, The Late B.P. Helium will cover Paul McCartney and Wings, Honey will cover T. Rex, The Vinyl Strangers will do Cat Stevens and Dark Meat is doing something so secret no one would even tell me. DJ Mahogany and Madeline Adams will also perform and, somehow, the Classic City Rollergirls will represent as well. The whole event is sponsored by the MAC AIDS Fund and AIDS Athens. Advance tickets are $8 and available at Belk’s MAC cosmetics counter, Schoolkids Records and Wuxtry. If you wait until show time they’ll run you $10. More info on this event in the ABC section.

Help These Dudes: Local Athens radio station WPPP 100.7 FM (AKA Hot 100) will host a show for its own benefit on Saturday, Dec. 2, over at Repent. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. and will feature Aqualove, The Vinyl Strangers and Allison Weiss. Hot 100 is the only non-UGA affiliated, commercial-free station in Athens. According to its website, it was created specifically for the Athens community and to promote Athens artists. For that reason alone, you should tune in at least once, if you haven’t already, and give 'em a chance. Lots of folks already know the scoop. Visit the station online at www.hot1007.com.

High Art: Propers are in order for contributing Flagpole writer Hillary Brown. Her piece from our Nov. 30, 2005 issue about R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet DVD saga [here] was mentioned in the "Other Notable Essays of 2005" section in the Da Capo Best Music Writing 2006 anthology book. The Da Capo Press series is similar to the popular Best American anthology series, and claims to offer "the year's finest writing on rock, hip hop, jazz, pop, country and more." Now Hillary can say that her name is in a book along with Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus and Alex Ross. Right on! For more info, visit www.dacapopressmusicbooks.com.

Continental: Only kind of local these days, the band Je Suis France has announced a release date for the long-long-long-awaited album Afrikan Majik. According to the band, the full-length should drop in April.

Killer: Locally-based-but-world-traveling band Maserati has found a home for its next album. Titled Inventions for the World Outside, the release will come out on Brooklyn-based label Temporary Residence. It's home to Explosions In The Sky and Mono, among many other equaling compelling acts, and Maserati seems like a perfect addition to the label's roster. Although no official release date is set, all parties concerned seem to think it should hit sometime in early 2007.

On Top Of The Rock: Carla LeFever, Athens' hardest working woman in show business, and her band The Rays are currently in the studio producing a three-song demo; that’s why you haven’t seen her normally ubiquitous flyers around town. The band is taking a break from playing live shows right now. According to LeFever, the group has cut tracks for a “sweet pop” song, a “groovy” song and an “AC/DC-sounding song.” Furthermore, the band plans to exploit its stylistic catalog by releasing what is described as a “black/ white” album with one disc focusing on the group's solid rock and roll and one disc featuring pop and funk songs. LeFever’s 2003 album The Path is currently available locally, and people can check her out over at www.carlalefever.com.

Unbelievable: Okay, the incredible has happened just in time for Christmas. One of the most beloved Athens bands of the early 1990s will reunite for a show at the fabulous 40 Watt on Friday, Dec. 15. The lovable, incredible and altogether awesome band I’m speaking of is Roosevelt. Formed in 1989, the band split originally in 1993 and then reunited for a show in 2001 to celebrate the release of its “best of” CD. This show will feature the original lineup of John Crain (bass), Ballard Lesemann (drums) and Daniel Pruitt (guitar). It’s difficult to describe how universally liked Roosevelt was back then, but it was one of the few galvanizing bands of that era. More about this will come; for now, sample the wares at www.myspace.com/rooseveltband.  

Maybe In January?: The former everywhere-at-once local band An Epic At Best played a rare show over at Tasty World a couple of weeks back and, dammit, a quick look at the group's schedule shows nothing Athens-related at all. The closest these guys will play is at Lenny's in Atlanta on Friday, Dec. 15. In all fairness, though, they did a lot of touring this year and maybe I should cut them some slack. But I’m not really one for doing that, so here’s my vote for at least one more Athens show in the next couple of months. The band's debut album There Will Be Rain is out now on Two Sheds Music and cheapskates can sample the band via www.myspace.com/anepicatbest.

They Won’t Last Long: Fans looking forward to Widespread Panic’s annual New Years two-day blowout at Atlanta’s Philips Arena should act fast. Mail order for tickets closed weeks ago and tickets went on sale to the public last week. As of this writing, many were still available, but I promise you, these shows will sell out completely. The band performs on Dec. 30 and 31. Your only option at this point is to go through Ticketmaster, but that’s what happens when you wait. Same advice goes for those eager to catch the Drive-By Truckers and their two-night stand on Dec. 30 and 31 at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse.

Rumors: Although not exactly a band to let Fleetwood Mac-style troubles happen, there’s a rumor that the local rock dogs in Brown Frown will play their final show on New Year's Eve. No info yet on where this will take place, but I’ll keep you posted as information comes in. Check back here for more.

And now, as always, I remind you to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. I hear the secrets that you keep 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