REST IN PEACE: Longtime Athens soundman and friend to many Wes Delk died on Saturday, Sept. 25. Known among the professional touring circuit as soundman to Waylon Jennings, Dawes, Widespread Panic and many others, his roots were homegrown here in Athens. Among his many gigs, he was head soundman at the Uptown Lounge, and in 1989, when Uptown owner Kyle Pilgrim and manager Duck Anderson reopened the Georgia Theatre, Delk became head soundman there as well. Most recently, he was production manager and soundman at The Melting Point, where he was at the helm since its inception. Delk had been in poor health for several years. There is reportedly a memorial party, consistent with Delk’s wishes, slated to happen sometime in November, and when I get the full details, I’ll publish them here for you.
LEAVE A LIGHT ON: Fresh from tour and ready to rock the hometown crew, Blunt Bangs continues to celebrate the release of the band’s full length Proper Smoker, courtesy of the Ernest Jenning Record Company. I feel like I spent the summer talking about this record, which was released properly back in September, but, hey, why not throw the publicist a bone, right? Simply put, the whole record is a bag of power-pop gems, and I can’t imagine any fan of the genre finding this lacking. That said, what’s so refreshing about this is that it’s not married to any orthodoxy of the genre, especially on tracks like “Odessa,” not to mention the Husker Du-isms of “Moshi Moshi.” If you feel like judging for yourself, head to the Flicker Theatre & Bar Saturday, Oct. 9 and see ‘em do the thing. For more info, please see facebook.com/bluntbangsband and bluntbangs.bandcamp.com.
RIGHT SIDE GLOWS: There will be a celebration of the life of Linda Phillips, founder of Nuçi’s Space, at the space Saturday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. Linda passed away in January of this year after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. While we take Nuçi’s Space as a given, the fact is that its existence, nor its success, wasn’t always so certain, and Phillips was a tireless advocate for mental health services and other resources for musicians. Phillips’ memoir, A Beautiful Here, was published in 2016. For more information, please see facebook.com/nucisspace and nuci.org.
PULL UP A SEAT: Gypsy Farm Records recently released a cassette tape compilation for the benefit of Feeding America, which is a non-profit that works with over 200 food banks. This compilation, also available digitally, includes tracks from Vincas, The Humms, The Haunted Head, Old Smokey, Sea Of Dogs, Koko Beware, Nate & The Nightmares, Sweet Auburn String Band, 432 Sessions and Pine Tar Rage. It’s titled Tape Feed Vol. 1 and can be found over at gypsyfarmrecords.bandcamp.com.
PASS THE HAT: AthFest Educates, the nonprofit organization behind AthFest Music & Arts Festival, has announced its annual grants, and this time around they total just over $43,000. Although each grant is specific in its purpose—far too specific to get into here—beneficiaries this year include HEART Music, Books For Keeps, Fowler Drive Elementary, the YWCO and YMCA, Nuçi’s Space, Clarke Central High School, H.B. Stroud Elementary, J.J. Harris Elementary and Oglethorpe Elementary. For a complete and detailed list of all recipients, please see athfesteducates.org.
IF IT’S TOO LOUD, TURN IT DOWN: Ixian, the ongoing project of Daniel Shroyer (Mandible Rider, Shadebeast), has a new set of recordings out named Binary, and you can stream the tracks individually or as an entire set, which is a nice convenience. The title fits like a glove for this, too, as it marries extreme grindcore with electronics to varying degrees of success. I preferred to listen to this as a whole set as it only runs about nine and a half minutes. Lyrics for tracks that have them are included but, honestly, you’ll never ever—not even once—sing along with this, so who cares, right? Find this and more Ixian magic over at ixian.bandcamp.com.
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