RTP-area local music and culture

[BSC <junk AT hitezone.com>]

The Broad Street Cafe   1116 Broad Street in Durham    www.TheBroadStreetCa=
fe.com

Tuesday, March 9
=95 8:30P Hugo (indie/pop/rock)

Wednesday, March 10
=95 7:30P Open Mic Night

Thursday, March 11
=95 8P Workbook (jazz w/ Brad Newell)
=95 10P Bob Funck and The New World Heroes (acoustic/folk rock/pop)

Friday, March 12
=95 8P Spencer Sholes (alt/folk rock/funk)
=95 9:30P Reese McHenry Benefit - $5 Cover
  =95 9:30P D-Town Brass (jazz/instrumental/big band)
  =95 10:15P The Pneurotics (rock/indie/alternative)
  =95 11:00P The Travesties (garage)
  =95 11:45P The Loners (rock)
  =95 12:30P The Love Language (soul/spanish pop/shoegaze)

Saturday, March 13
=95 8P Brett McKey (acoustic/folk/folk rock)
=95 10P Bustello (indie/rock) - $5 Cover
=95 11P A Rooster For The Masses (dub/indie/surf)
=95 12 Midnight The Dry Heathens (rock/punk/indie) - $5 Cover

Sunday, March 14
=95 4:30P BSC Kids! Baron Von Rumblebuss
=95 7:30P The JazzTones (jazz/blues/swing)

---DETAILS---
Tuesday, March 9
=95 8:30P Hugo (indie/pop/rock)
Hugo loves pianos really really bad. He was born in piano. Piano in
the previous sentence means Chicago. He started to learn the
instrument at the age of piano. Ok, in that last sentence piano
represents the number five, and not the word piano, and definitely not
Chicago.

Piano describes Hugo's songwriting as having the "lyrical tone of a
twenty-something Woody Allen." Woody Allen is a wry and sarcastic
writer and director. I totally forgot to tell you that piano in the
sentence before last means the Miami Herald.

Hugo's piano-driven sound is influenced by Billy Joel, Elton John,
Leon Russell, Ben Folds, Elvis Costello, and Michael Jackson. When I
say "piano-driven" I mean piano as in the instrument and not as in the
Miami Herald newspaper. Hugo has also been influenced by musical
theater, and is finally comfortable admitting that.

Hugo calls his music Indie Pop Piano Rock. Piano means an inescapable
undying lust of determination and dedication to playing his heart out
every single show with unbridled passion and charisma pumping through
his blood so he can fully live his life in true expression and
artistic rejoice.
Hugo is constantly redefining the piano.

"Hugo has been known to attack his piano from a horizontal position;
he also likes balancing sarcasm and satire." - The Boston Globe

"Theres something charmingly old-fashioned about Hugos piano-driven
pop songwriting on his latest self-released EP, Low on Blood Sugar.
Billy Joel, Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson might all recognize a
kindred spirit in Ungars breezy feel, clever wordplay and intricately
crafted retro production. Fans of Ben Folds, Fountains of Wayne and
Maroon 5 would do well to lend an ear." -Time Out NY

Wednesday, March 10
=95 7:30P Open Mic Night
Open Mic is arranged to enable anyone to perform, so all you have to
do is turn up early and get your name down to perform. Originals and
cover music of every style and genre are welcome! Open mic is a great
way to practice your art and can also can be a proving ground for new
talent and material. The audience consists of singers, poets,
songwriters and music lovers so the atmosphere should be warm and
encouraging for everybody.

Thursday, March 11
=95 8P Workbook (jazz w/ Brad Newell)
A jazz duo with a large repertoire of music ranging from laid back to
funky to standards. Thelonious Monk to Led Zeppelin.

=95 10P Bob Funck and The New World Heroes (acoustic/folk rock/pop)
Acoustic-electric rock that blends passion, vulnerability, angst &
pure sonic power... great musicianship built on strong grooves, folk-
pop sensibilities, & irresistible hooks. Lyrically emotive,
contemplative, melancholy yet hopeful... songs about the four "L's"...
love, life, loss and loneliness.

Friday, March 12
=95 8P Spencer Sholes (alt/folk rock/funk)
Lifelong musician, songwriter. Specializing in guitar and vocals.
Playing original music wherever I can get in the door.

=95 9:30P Reese McHenry Benefit - $5 Cover

  =95 9:30P D-Town Brass (jazz/instrumental/big band)

  =95 10:15P The Pneurotics (rock/indie/alternative)
"Rich started writing songs in high school with music and lyrics most
reminiscent of indie-rock with an occasional alt-country twang. His
songs are inspired by authentic emotionality provoked by love gone
awry, betrayal, thwarted intentions, and unfulfilled expectations
tapping into the commonality of the human experience of love. The
depth and complexity of his songs are tinted with the color, honesty
and roughness of the southwest canyons. His music is guitar-driven,
startling, and raw with rough vocals sung from the toes. He=92s created
stirring, idiosyncratic riffs with surprising bridges and changes that
make you stop whatever you=92re doing to listen. A doctorate in fluid
dynamics influences the melodic waves and intricate harmonic spirals
that he incorporates organically into his unique guitar licks.
However, an unusual humility and self-described shyness has left his
body of music to be an undiscovered wealth for the music-loving
community."

  =95 11:00P The Travesties (garage)

  =95 11:45P The Loners (rock)

  =95 12:30P The Love Language (soul/spanish pop/shoegaze)
"After three decades of sonic observation, you start to realize what
really good music sounds like. You know what you like. You like the
Beatles. You like Thin Lizzy. You like Stevie Wonder. The declaration,
=93You=92ll love this band!=94 no longer arouses much excitement. You=92ve
heard thousands of bands, millions of songs, and find little incentive
to embark on any audible adventure when =93The Boys are Back In Town=94
has already been written. In terms of music, we download it, we burn
it, but we rarely really listen to it. Perhaps I=92m being selfish, but
I listen to the Love Language because they write music I wish I=92d
written. I often picture myself playing these songs for some awkwardly
shy, yet strikingly beautiful French girl on a jetty in Quebec,
romantically duping her with my plagiarized sentiments. Dishonest, yet
undeniably feasible. I could figure out those chords on guitar, and
placidly convince some girl that these thoughts and feelings were my
own. It=92s not like trying to pass off =93Blackbird=94 as an original
composition. As you strum, you begin wishing that these poetically
mundane moments were parts of your own past, until you realize that
they are. That=92s what the Love Language is to me: The modest
declaration of the universal obvious. Songs written about apartments
you=92ve lived in and rotary phones that you=92ve hung up. Although
McLamb=92s arrangements are typically overcast, each song reminds you of
the towering trees that relish each falling drop. That there are
winners and losers, but sometime tragedy makes the most beautiful
story. After all, no one would remember the Titanic had it not sunk.
That is the Love Language- the celebration of the sinking ship. Bon
Voyage." =96 Jon Kirby, Wax Poetics

Saturday, March 13
=95 8P Brett McKey (acoustic/folk/folk rock)
In Brett McKey's unique style of acoustic folk-rock, the influences of
Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, and contemporary songwriters like Sam Beam are
most readily apparent. However, McKey's appreciation for great
songwriting of across genres has also given his music the flavors of
jazz, reggae, gospel, and blues music. Writing songs virtually since
he picked up the guitar at age 18, McKey also played in a variety of
bands while attending college in Ohio. In 2006, McKey began attending
seminary in North Carolina. During that time, he focused on his
studies, essentially giving up playing music publicly, but he used
that break from performing to hone his guitar and songwriting skills.

McKey's more recent songs bear the distinct marks of someone who has
spent a great deal of time pondering some of life=92s greatest
questions. His emphasis on writing songs that lead the listener to
probe the depths of life=92s great mysteries may be the most
distinguishing feature of his music. And yet, while these questions
are what drive much of McKey=92s music, he=92s also not afraid to keep the
mood light. He enjoys covering a variety of popular musicians, as
diverse as Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Tom Petty, and Norah Jones. McKey
has also been known to write and perform completely outlandish songs
such as a song about eating chicken nuggets and a humorous song about
his favorite theologian, John Zizioulas.

So while McKey takes music, songwriting, and the issues that drive his
songwriting seriously, it=92s fair to say that he=92s less concerned with
taking himself seriously, and always more intent on bringing a unique
story or perspective to his audience.

=95 10P Bustello (indie/rock) - $5 Cover

=95 11P A Rooster For The Masses (dub/indie/surf)
"Raleigh's A Rooster for the Masses wrote and recorded its debut EP,
Gallo Rojo, not long after George W. Bush landed his second term, or
when most every new rock band you heard cited Gang of Four as a
reference for disco-fueled post-punk and politics. The Rooster's been
slow to answer the call of Rojo, a quick-paced politico lasher that
leaned hard left from Franz Ferdinand's Top 40 beats and hooks.
Luckily, on its first full-length, Broken Era, the band expands its
sound and scope, borrowing cues from Radiohead (hear the skittering
beats of "This Drawing" or the OK Computer lift of "The Finger") and
reggae ("End Game" plays out an easy existentialism over a buoyant
bassline). Never fear, though, as the Rooster still sings truth to
power over angular guitar lines and hi-hat pulses, whether riffing on
the downtown void King's Barcade left behind on "No Party
Downtown" (the band released Rojo there in 2006) or territorial
tendencies on "Headwaters." It's just that frontman Adam Eckhardt's
finally learned to make his numbers make sense melodically, adding
finesse and grace to his most bellicose moments. Hell, on
"Homebodies," he even sounds like the missing angry Rosebud. Indeed,
change can be a mighty fine look."--Grayson Currin Independent Weekly

=95 12 Midnight The Dry Heathens (rock/punk/indie) - $5 Cover
"the band hammers at feedback-and-vitriol punk laced with shots of
hook and twang, like Drive By Trucker Mike Cooley woodshedding with
Social Distortion" =97 Grayson Currin, Independent Weekly

"The Dry Heathens craft massive songs of raucous energy - air-strike
epics that inspire equal parts emotion and movement."=97 Jamie Williams,
The Daily Tar Heel

Sunday, March 14
=95 4:30P BSC Kids! It's FUN and it's FREE! (tip jar passed) - Kids'
Band
Baron Von Rumblebuss - Kids music that rocks.  Songs about robots,
superheroes, and falling into onion dip are a few of the kid-centric
blasts of tunage that=92ll take you straight to the playground.  You=92ll
hear the lingering echoes of the Kinks, The Who, Devo, and more!

=95 7:30P The JazzTones (jazz/blues/swing)
The JazzTones sextet plays mainstream jazz in the styles of the 50's
and 60's. Behind the sultry vocals of Alice Brower, the Jazztones
cover tunes ranging from standards, to swing, blues, latin and bebop.
It's members come from the greater Hillsborough, North Carolina area.

The Broad Street Cafe   1116 Broad Street in Durham    www.TheBroadStreetCa=
fe.com