Carolyn Wonderland, or: Why I love Austin

Before we begin, I'd like to say that I know that this is a very long post, and that that's kind of a turn off. Sorry folks! Feel free to skip to the end for link/video goodness :)

So, a couple of weeks ago my friend Jonathan and I were running around downtown (making our high school history teachers proud) at the Million Musician March for Peace. (Maybe you read about it?) Anyway, while I think that went over splendidly and feel like we really accomplished a lot that day, what I'm interested in talking about today is a certain musician we stumbled across following the actual march.

Having nothing better to do immediately following the protest, we took a seat in the shade and began to chat as musicians and stage-crew swapped various instruments and equipment from the stage, readying it for the next performance. Before we knew it an older gentlemen had taken the microphone and, stage now set-up, announced a certain Carolyn Wonderland was to perform next. With that, a petite redhead sprung forth from the crowd and joined the eclectic mix of poets, musicians, and artists already on stage.

Following some introductory banter, Wonderland grabbed her telecaster and proceeded to blow the entire crowd away with guitar skills that could've rivaled Stevie Ray Vaughn himself. Somehow that managed to go right over our heads, because even though we sat through her entire set, enjoyed it, and ended up staying after for the rest of the performers, we really didn't think too much about any of it after we'd left.

The lady in question, with the telecaster in question.

That's not to say we didn't like her, because later that week when we found out she'd be playing at the Nutty Brown Cafe on the 10th we resolved to see her attend. After all, it's not like we'd made plans for the 10th, and she had played at the protest, after all. I mean, we'd quite liked everything about that protest, so we couldn't go wrong with this, right? Right.

Oh. My. God. We had no idea what we were in for. Carolyn took the stage last night roughly around 9pm (or was it 10?) and, for lack of a better word, dominated.

She started things off with several high-energy, guitar heavy songs, rocking away with intricate runs and a picking style reminiscent of a classical guitarist. (If that classical guitarist hated picks and had in fact originally been a bass player who was quite into slap-style.) It was incredible. Then, after having toned it down for a few songs, she whipped out a mandolin! Nice, we thought to ourselves, as she covered a Hindrix tune on what we eventually decided was the flute of string instruments.

Here she is busting it out on a Les Paul. Photo (c) R.R. Rodriguez

Now, this was all well and good on it's own, right? We were already completely smitten, when, after already having traded the mandolin back in for her original Telecaster, she gives up string instruments entirely in favour of a trumpet! (Is there anything she can't do?) Following a brief solo, she picked up the Tele once more and pretty much continued with it for the rest of the show.

Other memorable moments:

• Carolyn's whistling solo
• Crazy long drum solo while Carolyn and her Keyboardist/Bassist set up for the...
• ...Los Lobos covers at the end (featuring Wonderland and P. Brink on horns!)

She'll be playing at Antone's on the 25th for all you cool cats that live in and around the central texas area. If you can't make it out or would just like to see a full tour schedule, feel free to check out the myspace and her official site.

Also, instead of MP3's today, I give you:



Enjoy!

Hot damn, it's The Box Social!

That's right, bay-beh. I got a sweet tip this morning in regards to 'em (the girl who emailed me described them as being "one part swagger, two parts guitar, several pounds of pop sensibility and one well worn corduroy blazer (you know, the kind with elbow patches)"--how could I resist?) Since then I've been lurking around their myspace all day listening to the music and what not. Weird, right? But, in my defense I really haven't heard anyone like then in quite some time. It's cool. Take for instance the cow bell in "Hot Damn!"--I mean, seriously, who does that anymore? I love it. (and, as long as I'm ranting about this song, I think I'm gonna have to mention the bass line. You know, the one that opens second to the cow bell and runs pretty much the whole way through the song? Yeah, it's pretty much the definition of "tasty".)


I hate to say it after waxing poetic about them, but I've really only heard the songs up on their myspace at this point, so I can't talk about the album just yet. Don't fret though, I totally intend on doing a follow up review of their debut Get Going (likely, as soon as I get my hands on it!) I can't wait.

[mp3] The Box Social- Big T
[mp3] The Box Social- Hot Damn!

Both songs come straight off of the album, so download 'em, listen, and as always, if you like what you hear feel free to grab a copy of the CD. Support the artists and what not. I know you can download Get Going from myspace, as well as their Blown to Bits EP, or if you're looking for something a little more physical they've also got a link set up so that you can order one. They're by the T-Shirts.

Also, I kind of feel like I should ramble about "Big T" the way I did about "Hot Damn!", but, you know what? I just can't bring myself to do it, as the song pretty well speaks for it's self, you know? As Aversion put it, they're"the sort of act that everyone in the world should like, but only the really, really cool will." Well put, no?

Anyways, enjoy. And if you're in the Wisconsin/Michigan/Illinois area anytime soon I'd look into dropping by one of their shows, they just seem like they'd be awesome live. Peace.

Giant Drag

Oh, Giant Drag, Giant Drag, Giant Drag. If names are a reflection of their owners, than what a silly one this is, because when you get down to it, they're really anything but. While it's true Giant Drag has been described as a sort of "new grunge", this band is by no means boring and angsty. No, rather, they're one of the coolest bands, with one of the most laid back sounds, I've ever come across, preferring dulcet rhythm lines to upbeat pop sounds. Plus, it's fronted by none other than GTFU Radio's Annie Hardy. Seriously, I mean, how much cooler can you get?

(--Alright, I really just need to take a minute from writing about Giant Drag and regain my composure because the HD DVD promotion group has officially resigned. Like, today. No more HD DVD. Anymore. As of today. Holy crap. Blu-ray has won the war.)

M'kay, please excuse that nerd-tastic outburst. Where were we? Oh yeah, I think I was getting to the part where I tell you about their latest album, or their next tour, or whatever.

Well, that's the thing. They're last album was Hearts and Unicorns, which can hardly be called recent, and they're not currently on tour, so, what exactly am I going to do now? Tell you about the CD thats currently in the works, of course! You see, at the moment Giant Drags attempting to make another album happen, however...well...they're kind of in dire need of financing, you know?

I'm sure you're wondering how you can help, right? Of course! Actually, it's quite simple, just drop by their website and click the "Donate Button", plus every thing's done via PayPal so it's quick and painless! And, now that I'm done with that schpiel, we can proceed with todays (tonights? this mornings?) song postings. I know, your excited.

[mp3] Giant Drag- High Friends in Places
[mp3] Giant Drag- Oh Father

The first one comes to us off of Hearts and Unicorns, whereas the second one, a Madonna cover, is brought to us by the lovely folks over at Manimal Vinyl Records, and is one of many on their compilation charity album Through the Wilderness, with 25% of all net profits going towards Raising Malawi. Check out their site (Raising Malawi's, that is) for more information, visit the official myspace page of the album, or (allegedly) order a copy of the CD via RedEye (though I say 'allegedly' because I've yet to have any luck with that.)

And, of course to hear more songs you can always hop on over to Giant Drag's Myspace page.

Intense

I think that's the theme for today. I mean, I spent another day cooped up with about 5000 people who are, in one way or another, related to me. Needless to say, that was intense. That photo up there? That's pretty intense. And the band of the day? Super intense. Like, you have no idea.

But just what band is this, you might be wondering? Well, they generally go by the name Followed By Ghosts, and currently reside in none other than Waverly, Iowa--which, indecently, is home to the Waverly Light and Power Co., a front runner in the development of soy-based transformer oil (or so says wikipedia)--but that's another article, likely, for another blog. Perhaps TreeHugger? I digress, though. Then again, as long as were off topic, I'd like to take this opportunity to rant a bit about the aforementioned photo--or, more precisely, who took it. The picture was found rummaging through dA today (and is also the means by which I discovered FBG), and was taken by a user ~mattpulpfree, who, let me just say right now, is absolutely incredible. Seriously, go check out his gallery. It's awesome.

Okay, but enough with the tangents already. Back to the music, baby. Whew, so where were we? Oh yeah, Followed By Ghosts. Well, I actually don't know a whole lot about them (I know, tsk tsk), however when filling out the "sounds like" category on their myspace, the boys responded with: "Steam gently releasing from a mountain, and then WHAM, an eruption of melodic guitars and molten hot awesome."

I concur, fellas, I concur.

[mp3] Followed By Ghosts- The Entire City Was Silent
[mp3] Followed By Ghosts- Riga

All Mp3's should work, as I tested the links in Windows Media Player as well as Winamp (file-->open URL), so, fingers crossed everybody. Also, they've got a CD out, "The Entire City Was Silent", which you can snag at CDBaby.com (which, of course, I highly recommend doing.)

Oh yeah, and did I mention they were strictly intrumental? I know. Intense.