THE BEAT GOES ON: The Holiday Hustle Club, whom you may remember being previously billed as Stardust Holiday Lounge, returns to perform two shows this Christmas season. The poppy-jazzy-bluesy combo, led by longtime Athens musician Bart King, will also release a new self-titled EP of tunes this week. These five tracks will land at all major streaming services Dec. 8. There’s a mood of whimsy and goofiness to the first two tracks. “Snow Day!” features guest vocals from Claire Campbell, while Betsy Franck lends guest vocals to “Secret Santa.” The rest of the EP (“Jolly Old St. Nicholas 2,” “My Favorite Holiday Song” and a lively instrumental version of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”) are all fairly traditional, albeit with a definitive 20th-century personality. The group will perform at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens on Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. and then again Thursday, Dec. 21 at Hendershot’s. Word on the street is that advance tickets for each show are available now. So, for more information on that, please see uuathensga.org/events/holiday-hustle and hendershotsathens.com.
HO HO HO: Over the past couple of months, the world has gotten four new singles from Athens death rockers Tears For The Dying. These are from the band’s newest album In the Shadow of the Midnight Sun, which is available now on CD and has vinyl copies coming soon. Back in October, the band released “Heterochromia” which begins with a nice, steady synth riff and then slithers into a mid-tempo, effects-laden tune. The group’s most recent single, this month’s “We Are The Darkness,” has a decisively driven bass line, creative guitar melody and strong vocals. In an email to Flagpole, band leader Adria Stembridge said, “The fictitious story is of a hostile, parasitic entity that finds itself on our world, and which craves and feeds on individuals filled with hate. After infecting its victims, the parasite’s final stage of life culminates with transforming hatred into visible and glowing red heat and smoke, before exiting the body in a gruesome fashion and spreading its offspring.” So, take that, y’all. Find the new singles at tearsforthedying.bandcamp.com, and check out the video for “We Are The Darkness” at youtube.com/@tearsforthedying.
LIFERS: A nice bit of lovely news has come down from the brand new label World Will Turn. As its first release, the label sends a newly remixed and remastered version of Bloodkin’s 1999 album Out of State Plates out into the world on Dec. 8. It was recorded between 1997–1998 at Chase Park Transduction and, indeed, it was studio owner and engineer to the stars David Barbe who undertook the work of prepping it for a new release. This whole album is a nice slice of who’s-who, too, and features not only Bloodkin’s core of Eric Carter and the late Danny Hutchens but Widespread Panic’s John “JoJo” Hermann as well as the late Mikey Houser and Todd Nance, Maureen “Moe” Tucker, William Tonks, Dave Blackmon and more. This new label is founded by Bloodkin’s manager Carison Stokes in association with the incredible Jerry Joseph and Anthony Minter, all of which means this is most likely the album’s perfect home. Bloodkin’s bona fides are unquestionable, but there remains a decent slice of the music-listening population, even in Athens, that is unfamiliar with them. In the simplest, most reductive descriptor, imagine them as a thinking man’s Rolling Stones. You can enjoy all this live when Bloodkin & Friends perform at the 40 Watt Club on Saturday, Dec. 16. For all other information, please see bloodkin.net.
UPDATE: The lineup has changed ever so slightly for the next instance of Sonic Space at ATHICA. Still on the bill are Marcel Sletten (Primordial Void) and Atlanta’s expansively experimental Aaron Dylan Kearns, but instead of the previously announced Organically Programmed, attendees will get a solo set from Oliver Domingo. This all happens Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. ATHICA is located in Suite 1200 of the Leathers Building at 675 Pulaski St. For more information, please see athica.org.
PLAN AHEAD: The 2024 edition of Drive-By Truckers HeAthens Homecoming will run four nights this time around. Specifically, these shows happen Feb. 14–17 at the 40 Watt. Select opening acts for these shows are Dimmer Twins and Friends (Feb. 14), Vision Video (Feb. 15), Camp Amped band and The Paranoid Style (Feb. 16), and Hans Condor (Feb. 17). Tickets are already on sale now for $35 for the Wednesday show and $55 Thursday through Saturday, and you may purchase these through 40watt.com. For more information, please see drivebytruckers.com. I say this every year because it’s true: These shows absolutely will sell out at a rate of 100%, so act now.
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