Here’s your weekly update of nearly everything you need to know concerning Athens music and a few things you don’t. But I like to put them in here, you know, just in case. So, carry on below…

Impressive and New: Late last year three students from the UGA Music Business Program founded H.E.R. Hip Hop, LLC as a company which plans to service artists in the fields of promotion, booking, licensing, etc. The students (Stephen Prevost, Rebekah Baldwin and Elizabeth Schenck) are solely focused on hip-hop and seek to reach both local and national artists. So far, their efforts are laudable, their website is both informative and good looking, and they’ve scheduled their first slam-dunk of a showcase, too. Happening Apr. 9 at New Earth Music Hall, the H.E.R. Hip Hop Showcase will feature Dead Prez, Kidz in the Hall, WrittenHouse, Donnis, Stanza, Fresh and WildKard. The night of music is to be preceded by a panel discussion and mixer. The plan is for this to be an annual event. I applaud their efforts and wish them very well, but must take exception to H.E.R.’s purporting that Athens is a town in which “…the hip-hop genre has no real presence in the community.” That’s just patently untrue. I do, however, encourage you to visit www.herhiphop.com and address any questions to Baldwin via rebekah@herhiphop.com.

Big Boo: Southern blues 'n' rock dude Boo Ray will release his newest record, Bad News Travels Fast, on Thursday, Mar. 11 at the 40 Watt when he shares the bill with Radiolucent and Ken Will Morton. If you happen to miss him that night, he’ll be back at the Watt on Mar. 19 as part of the showcase for the Athens Music Collective. Go give him a listen at www.myspace.com/booraymusic.

So Shines a Good Deed in a Weary World: Harvey Milk will release its newest album, A Small Turn of Human Kindness, May 18 on the Hydra Head label. In other news, the band is currently doing a couple of weeks of touring through the Northeast, Midwest and Canada with Kansas City’s longtime powerhouse Coalesce.

All Together Now: The first major event of the newly formed Athens Music Collective will happen Mar. 19 at the 40 Watt. The collective, a loose association of “professional bands, musicians and artists who have close creative ties to each other,” will host a round-robin performance, and participants include The Bros. Marler, Boo Ray & the Bad Beat Kings, Betsy Franck & the Bareknuckle Band, The Lefty Hathaway Band, Lionz, Mad Whiskey Grin, Thieves Market, Shitty Candy & the Circus Peanuts, The Burning Angels and Sursievision. If you’re interested in becoming a member of the Athens Music Collective, drop a line to athensmusiccollective@gmail.com and include a photo, biography, discography and all of your contact information (including web presence and email addresses). Please list everyone in your band and what bands they have or are still currently playing with. As for the benefits of joining the organization, um, I dunno. Perhaps friendship and camaraderie? I guess ask them.

Party for Your Right to Fight: The annual Athens Human Rights Festival “Battle of the Bands” will happen Apr. 3 at the New Earth Music Hall and, of course, all proceeds will benefit this year’s festival. Two winners will be chosen: one by the judges and one through an audience vote. The prize is a performance slot at the Human Rights Festival. Want to compete? Then drop a line to ahrf_bob@yahoo.com or call 770-725-2652 and ask for Sue Cullen or Nikki Ryon. This year’s Athens Human Rights Festival will happen May 1 & 2. For more information on the festival, please see www.athenshumanrightsfest.org.

Listen All You Want; He’ll Make More: The continuously working Ken Will Morton celebrates the release of his latest album, True Grit (Soujourn Records), with two shows this month. First there's an acoustic show with Michelle Malone on Saturday, Mar. 20 at Decatur venue Eddie's Attic. The following night he'll play a free show with his full band at Jot 'Em Down BBQ here in town. Morton has steadily played and released records for several years, and you can check him out over at www.myspace.com/kenwillmorton.

Well Worth It: Athens native Andy Carlson, associate professor of music at Denison University, is releasing his newest album with the Andy Carlson Band on Friday, Mar. 19 at the Melting Point. Carlson’s family connections to the Athens scene are a mind-boggler (his 92-year-old grandfather, Earl Murphy, was part of Art Rosenbaum’s Art of Field Recording: Volume 1 and still plays regularly in Athens) and Carlson himself has played with John Berry, Normaltown Flyers and Randall Bramblett among others. The Andy Carlson band plays what Carlson calls “progressive bluegrass” and the new album, Fiddlehead, was recorded with John Keane. You can hear a bit of the band's other recording, Log-A-Rhythm, at www.cdbaby.com/cd/acarlsonband. If you like what you hear (I did), then get yourself to the show, fool!

Double Dose: A listening party for both Drive-By Truckers’ The Big To-Do and The Whigs’ In the Dark will happen Monday, Mar. 15. The party will start at 9 p.m. at Little Kings, and the first record played will be determined by a coin toss. A raffle ticket will be given to each person in attendance, and prizes including band merchandise, signed posters and more will be given away throughout the evening. The event is free and open to the public. Local online retailer Athensmusic.net is handling the whole thing, and you can visit them online over at, ba dum bump, www.athensmusic.net.

Who’s Up?: Athens band K-Macks will play Atlanta’s 11 Alive morning TV show "Metromix Soundcheck" on Friday, Mar. 19. The band will appear live at 6 a.m. to play a song or two and do an interview. Yes, 6 a.m. Send your regrets for missing it to the band via www.myspace.com/thekmacks.

Gordon Lamb

threatsandpromises@flagpole.com