UA Alumnus Returns To Play Show At Rounder's: My Article For The Crimson White

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For Today Fight The Silence Tour Zydeco Birmingham, AL 2/25/14

Impromptu For Today show in Birmingham? Sure why not. I do not have much to say about this show other than it was awesome, the crowd was great, and they played

Break the Cycle

Foundation

Pariah

Seraphim

Saul of Tarsus (The Messenger)

My Confession

Fight the Silence

Flesh and Blood

Arm the Masses

Fearless

The Breaker's Origin

Devastator

Smile Empty Soul & Hed PE Rhythm and Brews Tuscaloosa, AL 2/19/14

I have wanted to see Smile Empty Soul since I first heard the song Adjustments in 2006 on Sirius/XM Octane. Every time they have come around I have never been able to get into the venue because of my age. Actually, that was the case this time too, but not only did I want to see Smile Empty Soul, I also wanted to see Hed PE. Both bands were on my bucket list and they were on tour together. I still was not old enough to get in, but I guess it helps to have friends in high places.  

The first band that opened was Sunflower Dead from California. I do not normally say bands are weird, but this band was weird. I hung out in the back of the bar during their set because I was terrified of all the stage make-up and stage theatrics. They were also very very very very loud. Probably one of the loudest live bands I have seen. They were not good. That's all I have to say about that.

Luckily following them, it was time for Smile Empty Soul. They were on tour for their newest album "Chemicals" and this was the first show of the tour with Hed Pe.

They played

Black & Blue

Loser

Chemicals

Silhouettes (Cue my tears)

Ban Nuys

For You

False Alarm

Don't Ever Leave (One of my favorites!)

Sitting Ducks

Bottom Of A Bottle (Cue every person, drunk and sober in the bar, singing the song at the top of their lungs and spilling beer everywhere)

To make this show better, I had just interviewed Jake Kilmer, the drummer for Smile Empty Soul for my school newspaper and it was so much fun. At the time of the show, I had no idea I would be seeing Smile Empty Soul again so soon at Rockville.

Wade Bowen brings Texas sound to town: My Article for The Crimson White

Wade Bowen brings Texas sound to town

IN CULTURE, MUSIC / BY KINSEY HAYNES / ON FEBRUARY 20, 2014 AT 12:00 AM 

The country music sub-genre Red Dirt is an important element of the Texas music scene. Early pioneers include Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Bob Childers. Recently, bands like Cross Canadian Ragweed, No Justice and The Randy Rogers Band have started refining this style to sound more distinctive.

Wade Bowen, a native of Waco, Texas, is one of the artists helping to keep the Red Dirt scene prosperous.

His upcoming tour, Four On The Floor, will stop in Tuscaloosa on Thursday night at The Jupiter Bar. It will also include Randy Rogers, Josh Abbott and Stoney Larue, other prominent members of the Red Dirt genre.

“Randy and I have been friends for years,” Bowen said. “I’m anxious to see everybody’s shows. It’s going to be a lot of camaraderie. This is something that has never been done before with four major acts from this region, getting together and doing a show. It should be a lot of fun.”

One aspect of this tour Bowen said he is most excited about is crowd response. He has been to Tuscaloosa fewer than five times and is looking forward to exploring new territory.

“We’ve been trying really hard the last two years just to get out of our region, and it’s worked really well,” Bowen said. “It’s friendly competition. We all try to support each other, and we all know that if one of us succeeds, we all succeed.”

This isn’t the first time the musicians have played The Jupiter Bar. Jeremiah Jones, owner of The Jupiter Bar, has booked each artist for individual shows in the past.

“It made sense to do a package show like this,” said Jones, who expects a large crowd Thursday night.

Bowen said the diverse styles that separate the Red Dirt scene will be apparent with all four acts that are performing. Red Dirt is just Texas, Bowen said.

“It’s always meant home, life on the road and to live my dream and follow it out,” Bowen said. “When I first started, I thought I had to move to Nashville to make a living. After starting a band, I found out I didn’t have to do that. To me, Texas music is life. It’s country. It’s rock. It’s no boundaries – anything you want to play, sing about. It’s complete and total freedom.”

The Four on the Floor Tour starts at 7 p.m. at The Jupiter Bar. Tickets are $18

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St. Paul & The Broken Bones In Store Album Release Performance Oz Music Tuscaloosa, AL 2/18/14

I heard St. Paul & The Broken Bones were coming to our local CD store, Oz Music and I knew I had to go. I did not know much about SP&TBB other than they were from right up the road in Birmingham and they have been getting a lot of airplay on UA's radio station, 90.7 The Capstone WVUA-FM (Roll Tide!) In the past, big bands from Alabama, such as The Civil Wars and The Alabama Shakes, just to name a few, have played there right on the cusp of their breakout. I knew this band would be no different. They played

Don't Mean A Thing

Sugar Dyed

Half The City

It's All Over (Wilson Pickett Cover)

Call Me

(The first two songs are correct. I know they played the other three, just do not remember the order.)

Their set was 30 minutes and there were over 300 people in the store, which was incredible. After the set, those who purchased the album in advance from Oz were allowed to go through the meet and greet line. The guys were super nice and so excited to meet their fans, which is always refreshing to see. I hope they can maintain that mentality throughout their career. 

Smile Empty Soul To Play At Rhythm & Brews: My Article For The Crimson White

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Clear Plastic Masks Heads South: My Article for The Crimson White

Clear Plastic Masks heads south

IN CULTURE, MUSIC / BY KINSEY HAYNES / ON FEBRUARY 13, 2014 AT 12:00 AM

After forming in upstate New York in 2011, Clear Plastic Masks have started to push their limits and expand to Nashville.

The band began when singer Andrew Katz, bassist Eddie Duquesne and drummer Charles Garmendia met at a summer camp for troubled teenagers. Guitarist Matt Menold was a counselor who taught guitar and was later asked to join the band.

“Matt wound up staying with us after his wife left him, and we became fast friends and started playing together all the time,” Katz said.

Clear Plastic Masks gets their name from one of their favorite songwriters, Alan Lewandowski.

“We were in Brooklyn, where everybody’s so … cool, and here’s this genius, who, lovingly, just sort of threw it back in their faces,” Katz said.

After getting fed up with the New York scene, moving to Nashville was not a hard decision. They are now becoming one of Nashville’s most hardworking and talked about bands.

“There is just a great mix of people and bands – a higher concentration of peeps that are serious about making a career out of it, and, compared to New York, [they are] less snobby and less saturated,” Katz said.

Touring is essential to any band that is trying to promote their music. One of their favorite aspects of touring is participating in on-the-road shenanigans.

“We dared this Dodge Challenger to race our van at a stop light, and we won because he stalled out,” Katz said.

Katz said the band’s influence is simply “all the good stuff.” Their sound is a mixture of rock, soul, blues, punk and grunge riffs, with a hint of ’50s and ’60s garage-band rock ballads.

The band will be playing for the second time in Tuscaloosa at Green Bar on Thursday with The Timberwolves.

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Winter Jam Birmingham, AL 2/9/14

I am usually not a Winter Jam enthusiast, but I have wanted to see Thousand Foot Krutch since I was a young teenager. So, I bit the bullet and braced all of the elements of general admission shows that I do not find favorable. I got there early enough so I could get a good seat close to the front and so I could leave as soon as TFK was over.

The first few bands were not anything worth mentioning because I do not remember them nor did I find them worth remembering. I was only there for Thousand Foot Krutch.

They played

Let The Sparks Fly

War of Change

Fire It Up

Light Up The Sky

I will never understand why this band only had a four song set. Seriously? They did not even play three of their most popular songs. But their set was still good and hopefully soon they will do a headlining tour.