Arms and Sleepers new EP "The Motorist"

After getting a copy of the new Arms and Sleepers EP The Motorist in the mail, we got all retrospective and stuff.

It's actually funny to think about how we first found out about Arms and Sleepers a few years back. 'Twas over MySpace, of course, where we first came across the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based duo of Max Lewis and Mirza Ramic, and their ambient music.

At the time, we got 'em covered in Grafitti for an upcoming show at the Glass, and had got Bliss Was it in That Dawn to be Alive mailed in advance. Rarely were we so excited to be able to catch a band.

Ramic and Lewis, sitting in the dark with their synths and laptops, making their soulful, trippy, electronic music, played video footage of what we think now was their actual tour, behind and over them via a projector.

The Motorist EP by Arms and Sleepers, released in mid-February

They were playing with The Concept that night at the Glass, so that was awesome too. Everyone on our end seemed to have a good time with cool dudes and rock to one band we knew rocked, and one that we had just found out about.

This was all back when WVRockscene was cool, mind you. And it was there we also picked up a limited edition EP from A/S. And now, having just got their newest effort in the mail and listening to it, we thought about how much we've dug their music, how unique they are, and how much it sucks they're not coming through town.

Arms and Sleepers has been staying busy, touring all over in February and March, stopping for a show in Austin, Tayhass this past weekend at SXSW. They're coming through Lexington and Pittsburgh in the coming days, winding their tour down. And we know those cities aren't in West Virginia, and that Arms and Sleepers in not from West Virginia. We just dig their music.

A Lonely Town gets lonelier?

We're sitting on a lot of of posts and/or feature-type stuff that we've been wanting to get out, but just haven't yet. We're excited about 'em all, from the new CDs, cool new area bands, and even a few shows that, yes, we may try to attend. Just look at the upcoming show schedule; it's exciting.

One thing not so exciting? A Charleston area bar shutting down, temporarily, we assume, over a liquor license. One that books cool bands from time to time.

Lonely Town is/was set to release their debut CD next Friday (the 27th) at the Blue Parrot, from what frontman Mark Bates recently told us. We'd very much look forward to hearing the CD; although we haven't caught Lonely Town live yet, we did see Bates and his Vacancies, and have heard through various channels that the band is legit. He himself seems hugely talented. You can catch them in a recent episode of Radio Free Charleston. Now Rudy owes us $50.

Well, we just read that the show scheduled for tonight at the Parrot was shit-canned at the last minute due to a problem with the bar's liquor license. We were told this by someone running DeadFaceDown's MySpace profile, in response to their bulletin about the show being called off at the last minute.

This will hopefully work itself out soon and the Parrot will be back selling liquor and shit ASAP, or Charleston will have just one regular venue for bands, the Glass. The Sound Factory just hosted Larry Keel and will welcome Karma To Burn to town next month, but it seems like they haven't had hardly any shows in recent months.

So, in summation, one piece of good news (a cool new CD from a cool new local band) is dampened somewhat by one piece of bad news about an area bar not being able to host shows. Poop.

But we're positive thinkers here at WVRockscene, and can see the silver lining; Lonely Town's new CD is available NOW, so you don't have to wait for a show that may not happen to get it. Check 'em out online and out live somewhere in the coming weeks and months.

St. Patty's Day w/Sarasota? WHOAH!!!

We've spent the last few days reading up on St. Patrick, and what he did for Ireland and promoting irresponsible beer drinking. It's not a coincidence; we've been gearing up for a round of cool St. Patrick's Day shows in the coming days.

Tomorrow, one of our favorite punk bands of all time, Huntington's Sarasota, will play Club Echo with a few other bands that never brought any religion or beer to any foreign country.

Also, as far as St. Patrick's Day shows, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge playing 123 Pleasant St. with The Davisson Brothers seems like a winner to us. We really like Keel's music, so check 'em out if you're up that way.

That is all. End communication.

Byzantine's Broadmoor demo available

No wonder West Virginia ranked last in happiness in a recent Gallop poll; our best metal bands, defunct though they may be, get their music pirated and sold over the internet with no money! Classy.

Such is the situation Byzantine finds itself in. After releasing "Oblivion Beckons" about a year ago and subsequently dissolving not long after that, the band finds itself having had their "Broadmoor Demo" basically stolen and sold over the internet, according to what frontman Chris "OJ" Ojeda said in a blog entry on the band's MySpace profile.

You can read the whole story there, and help the band out by downloading the 12-song demo here.

Killing Chloe comes back to West Virginia

(Killing Chloe returns to Charleston for a show at the Blue Parrot 3.14)

Even talking over email, you know that Steve Barton is excited about his band Killing Chloe. The Cincinnati (via Sissonville) prog-rock four-piece is returning to Charleston March 14th for a show at the Blue Parrot with a new EP, DVD (cut into webisodes), and overall, a new band. It’s been a few years since they released their Deftones-esque CD “Two Years Later” but now, four years later, Barton’s enthusiasm for the band has only grown.

“It’s exciting times for us,” he admitted.

The band (Barton: guitar, vocals; J.P. Morris: guitar; Brad Roades: bass; Kevin Best: drums) made the short drive to Sissonville last November to work with former band member Charles “Aaron” Fisher at 101 Productions in Sissonville. Also helping out in the engineering department was former bandmate and current Parrot sound guy Nathan Shrewsbury.

Barton said it was that friendship and experience that made the recording (three songs in three months) of “The Okapi & Other Myths That Exist” so smooth and productive.

That, and some whip-cracking from Fisher.

“Charles really busted my ass, as well as the rest of the band, on this one,” Barton admitted. “That’s what makes working with him great; he is my best friend so we always have a fun time and have a mutual respect for each others ideas.”

From there, the recording went to Drew Mazurek, who’d worked with Byzantine, Linkin Park and Nothingface for mixing. “He really took it to the next level,” Barton said.

Jay Frigoletto (AIC, Crossfade, Clutch) handled the mastering, and Barton said there was no lack of awe having his material handled by people who’d worked with those kinds of bands.

“Dude, we were so pumped it was crazy, but to be honest it was a bit scary to think that they were gonna hear it, and the “What ifs?” kinda started floating; “What if they hate it?” lol. But Drew was awesome and is a very down to earth guy. He took care of us and really worked hard, and seemed to have a heart in it, if that makes sense.

“We drove down to Baltimore for the mixes. I know for me, it was just a sweet thing to watch him mix and take in all that skill and learn a lot; I admired him as an engineer far before we got to work with him.”

Consequently, Barton said that Killing Chloe fans from Ohio to West Virginia and beyond can expect a more polished product than the last CD. “In all honesty [The Okapi] blows that away. Personally, I look at “Two Years Later” like a long-winded demo; we play the material live but it’s not what it could be. I look forward to getting to re-record a few of those tunes one day with better production.”

Barton said the band is trying to book a mini-tour later on in the year. “West Virginia and Kentucky will be the start. We will from there be using Indie On The Move to book a seven-day tour later this spring/summer to test the waters.”

He said he was excited about a few webisodes and an electronic press kit done with the help of Indiana-based Renegade Films.

“Renegade is our friend Cyrus’ baby. We did a video for the demo version of our song “The Watchers II” with him and it turned out great, so we began shooting an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) and getting live footage gathered for that as well, as tons of hours of random in-studio and joking around stuff that will end up being a few short webisodes. Cyrus is a very talented guy and very open to ideas; if you’re in a band look him up!

Barton said he’s looking forward to bringing his band back to West Virginia.

“I’m personally excited to show people what this band has become. West Virginia is where Killing Chloe was born, and we also popped our show cherry there in ‘07. But we have came a long way from the band they saw then. Getting to see some friendly faces and play music for them is a beautiful thing. Can’t wait to have a drink or two and rock the hell out of Charleston again.”

Finishing up, taking everything in, Barton is stoked at what may lie in store for Killing Chloe.

“I still can’t believe how cool all this is.”

--- photo: Jessica Uttinger

Thievery is up in Magic Town

It’s not all the time that we get cool emails about rockin’ new bands from Morgantown. Such was the case a few days ago whenst we logged onto our Gmail account, and lo and behold, it was Wes Thomas.

Formerly of The Ones That Got Away and more recently Red Bones, Wes was letting us know about a new project he’s got going up that way called Thick As Thieves. Made up of Thomas, Red Bones bassist (and former Masses bandmate) Jason Harler and Kevin Post from The Emergency on drums, not only were we getting a scoop, we got mp3s attached. Good deal.

Thomas said one cool thing about the new band is he and Harler share the songwriting duties.

“I’m liking the dual songwriting approach. It gives us both a break from singing; there’s more material to work with so it feels more productive. I still like all the TOTGA stuff but I’m basically just starting from scratch now as far as writing songs, which is nice because I’m free to just play whatever.”

"In The Thick" brought TOTGA and "Slice It Twice" to mind, with Thomas on vocals, while "Like Hell" features Harler singing. You can hear both songs on their new MySpace profile.

Thomas said aside from any musical comparisons to the Ones or Red Bones, simple geographic proximity makes for more convenient rocking.

“With this band we get to practice more often since we all live in Morgantown. For a long time with TOTGA, Derek [Thomas] and Zak [Richards] lived in Charleston or Huntington. We’d maybe manage to practice two weekends a month at most. It was kind of hard to keep together after awhile.”

Wes said Thick As Thieves recorded the two songs at Zone 8 studios, and the mp3s were a bit of a taste of what's in store.

“We’d like to get more recorded. It’s just a matter of scraping together some funds. We have enough songs for an album at this point and are working on new stuff and playing shows.”

Thick As Thieves will play their first show Saturday night with Russian Tombstones joining them for a U92 Up All Night party at the Mountain Lair at WVU.

Singles meeting singles

Shepherdstown is as far from Huntington as you can get without entering Maryland; about 260 miles. Area bands and fans may be forgiven for not exactly being in the know when it comes to both towns. It took Teays Valley's Caustic Eye Productions to tie the two together with a few cool rock bands.

This Friday The Demon Beat will welcome Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls to Skull City for a homecoming of sorts and, to release the split single the two bands teamed up on.


Demon Beat bassist Tucker Riggleman said the idea for the limited release effort came from Caustic Eye’s Rod Lanham.

“Rod approached us about putting out a split featuring ourselves and Bud Carroll & the Southern Souls. He noticed that we had a few shows coming up together, so he thought it’d be a good idea to do a limited run to be sold strictly at those shows.”

“I knew they were having a couple of shows together, and figured a good way to promote both shows was by having something new from both of them available exclusively there,” Lanham said when reached for comment at an undisclosed location, deep underground.

“Bud has his own studio, and The Demon Beat were headed into the studio soon, so why not get new material? The big Indies do splits all the time.”

“We were all about it because we’d been following Bud for a while and were really excited about getting some shows together,” Riggleman added.


The Demon Beat has been to Huntington a few times in recent months for shows at the V Club and Shamrock’s. But it was a trip to Morgantown for a show at 123 Pleasant Street that was necessary to make the release possible, Riggleman said.

“We took the opportunity to record with good friend (and amazing engineer) Brian Spragg, guitarist/vocalist for It’s Birds. We took this opportunity to release some songs that are slightly different than what we have been doing,” he admitted. “So we put on a punk song and a country-ish song. Brian did a tremendous job, and we are really excited to get this split out to fans at the coming shows.”

The split single will be available at Friday’s show at Stonewall’s Pub (the Beat's first show in their hometown since they released their EP in November) and March 14th at Shamrock’s, when The Demon Beat will make the short drive to Huntington to play with Carroll and the Souls for what will by then be the third time. Sandwiched between the two dates is a March 7th gig in the notoriously raucous college town of Athens Ohio, home of the Bobcats.

Riggleman said the home-and-home split release series works good for both bands. “I’m really glad that we are doing these shows on each other’s turfs. I hope people respond and come out in good numbers.”

He closed by thanking Spragg and Lanham for making the release possible.

“We want to really thank Rod for taking on this project for no other reason than he really digs what both bands are doing. This is the kind of support that is helping the West Virginia music scene make somewhat of a comeback, and really get people excited about going to shows again.”

An Interview With a Gentleman

(L-R: Dennis, Brian and Bobby of Thee Drunken Gentlemen)

Thee Drunken Gentlemen, one of Charleston’s newest (and reputedly best dressed) bands, it would come as no surprise, formed “over a couple of mixed drinks,” drummer Brian Holstine admitted over email. Now, after getting a few shows under their belt, the Gentlemen have seemed to have hit their stride.

“The shows are getting better each time,” Holstine said of the handful of shows the band's played so far.

After playing their first show at the Empty Glass’ Halloween Hootenanny, the band played the Parrot late last month and recently traveled out to Shamrock’s in Huntington for a show with The Big Bad, with whom the “Gentlemen” will rock the Blue Parrot Friday night.

Thee Drunken Gentlemen are no strangers to either the local scene (having played in, among other bands, The Pistol Whippers, Rose City, and The Black Knots) or Capitol Street. Holstine admitted that the band practices at an undisclosed location maybe not too far from the Parrot.

“We can be heard, but not seen,” he said.

Compared to most bands these days, the Gentlemen have it backwards; the band has played more shows than they have songs on MySpace. But Holstine said the band plans to record with Greg Hunt “very soon” and that, if you’re looking to compare the Gentlemen with any of the other bands they‘ve been in:

“The best analogy I can give is this: Being a Drunken Gentlemen is like a MANICORN: half man, half Unicorn. A mythical beast that can’t be seen because it doesn’t exist, except to those people who choose to BELIEVE.”

--- photo: Jim the local music emperor

Meet the new band, same as the old band?

Heart Holds True (L-R: Bobby Midkiff, Brooke White, Nick McCormick, Dana White, Jake Wegman) plays their first show at the Brickhouse in St. Albans February 21st.

Dana White is open and honest talking about his old band, Holden Caulfield, and his new band, Heart Holds True. That the latter would be somehow inextricably linked to the former isn’t a surprise.

From comprising former members of Holden Caulfield and current members and friends in The Fontaine, to being named after a Holden Caulfield song, White and friends didn’t want to see the rock and roll ride end.

“Deciding to stop doing Holden Caulfield after eight years honestly sucked,” White said over email. “I hated deciding to end it, but it was time.”

Now, it’s time for his new Huntington-based five-piece hardcore act to play their first show at the Brickhouse in St. Albans February 21st. Planning on a short, sweet five-song set, White said that, with the newly added McCormick on guitar, Heart Holds True is “…kind of like Holden Caulfield if we had been listening to a lot of Mastodon.”

White described the genesis of the new band, forming in the ashes of the old one. “Bobby and I have been good friends for a while. We wanted to keep playing in a band together as an excuse to hang out.”

“At Holden Caulfield’s last show, Bobby saw Nick when he was on his way out the door and asked if he wanted to play guitar in our new band. I mentioned that Brooke could play bass and he was into it…that was that.”

One member of Heart Holds True that you may recognize from being around White is HHT’s bassist, Dana’s wife Brooke, whom he met when she’d joined Holden Caulfield as bassist. No domestic disturbance worries in the band, though, White said.

“We never argue or fight about anything. I guess we’re both just insanely relaxed and genuinely get along with each other, so it’s not weird or a problem at all for us to be in a band together.”

One hitch with Heart Holds True is finding a permanent solution on drums. “We’ve had a hard time finding a permanent drummer and we’re still looking,” White said. “We’ve played with three different people but no one permanent yet. Oddly enough, all of those dudes were in my first band at one point.”

White said the nascent band is planning on recording a self-produced four song demo for fans and potential labels, and thinks that Heart Holds True could potentially approach what Holden Caulfield meant to everyone.

“I definitely think it could...it’s a little different from Holden Caulfield, but not so much that I don’t think people that were into that band wouldn’t like this band. I’m touching on a couple of different things lyrically than I have before, but there will definitely be familiar topics as well. I’m even thinking of revisiting an old story from then from a different point of view.”

While Holden Caulfield played a lot of all-ages shows, White said his straight edge lifestyle doesn't determine where his bands play.

“When it comes to letting people know that I’m straight edge, meaning that I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs or have promiscuous sex, it’s not really a huge deal to me. I do it for myself and the people that care for me. As far as the band goes, it’s not really fun to go into a show worrying that someone is drunk or high. No one in this band does drugs and maybe one person drinks. Everyone knows that we’ll play better if we’re focused and have our heads 100% into the show, so that’s what we will always do. I don’t mind being around people that are drinking, and neither does anyone in the band. We would just rather play sober so we can play better and play harder.”

“I’m the only person in the band that actually claims straight edge, even though no one in the band is a party person in the traditional sense. We would rather play all-ages shows simply because that audience tends to be at shows just for music and hanging out, whereas bar shows are a mixed audience of people that want to see live music and people that just happen to be there to drink while you’re playing. It’s an entirely different audience, both of which can be a blast. It just depends on what bar and what bands you’re playing with. The more friends that are there, the better.”

White said that friends and fans can expect everything the new band has at Heart Holds True’s first show. “Since we decided to make it a short set, we’re going to try and make it even more intense that it would’ve been had it been longer. We’re tightening everything up as much as possible and it’s sounding pretty solid.”

And, White, ever the fortune cookie fan, admitted that there may even be a fortune cookie out there for the new band.

“You will learn drums and play for Heart Holds True.”

--- Heart Holds True will play the Brickhouse in St. Albans 2/21 with Most Ill, Beyond All Hope, Smoke and Mirrors, and Where It Ends. Show starts around 6 p.m., and cover is $7

Pawnshop puts HQ together DIY

Despite the tanking economy, Brian Carr says business at Pawnshop Skateboards in Chesapeake is good these days. Carr, who owns and operates Pawnmax and its in-house skateboard operation, explained why over email.

“Oddly in this economic time business is really good! From the actual pawn shop store business is good when the economy is good and bad so it’s definitely a win/win situation.”

Carr, a skater himself, is old enough to remember when skate parks and shops were lacking in the area. “Parks here were non-existent in the 80’s. They did have a really good vibe in Huntington with Iguana Skatepark and shop back then, but the Charleston area? Nada, Zilch!”

Over the past few months Pawnshop has been making inroads into helping invigorate the local skate community. From selling all sorts of cool boards and gear (like their own line of decks and the Steve Caballero re-issue we bought last summer) and having their own team to helping promote local music, the shop opened their 16,000 square-foot skate park headquarters across the street from the store last Saturday, and will hold a lock-in this Friday the 13th.

“…insert the Jason Voorhees chant here,” Carr said.

But seriously, folks, the Pawnshop skate park opened with a resounding success, with about 50 people showing up during the course of the day, for what Carr called “a fun experience.”

The lock-in, with Carr keeping up the Friday the 13th horror theme, “…will be secured for the time of the lock-in (10 p.m. - 8 a.m.) and anyone under 18 cannot “escape” unless their parents come to get them. The lock-in is limited to 30-40 people and once that amount pre-pays or comes in, the doors will close. So pre-register early!”

We thought we used a lot of exclamation points, but we’ll let Carr drop ‘em because he’s rightly excited about what he’s done with the shop, and now the park. Fittingly enough for a pawnshop, Carr said he put the thing together for a good (read: low, low) price.

“I was on a skateboarding blog a couple of weeks ago and posted a response to a skate park thread. People were asking how much does it take to open one up. When I told them I have spent less than 7k my email box filled up. I was told by several that a building my size would easily command 75k+ to build a park. I am very savvy when it comes to figuring out ways to make things happen on a shoestring budget and this park was definitely one. Saving money by doing most of the work ourselves with the help of friends and the community really keeps the cost down. Bartering helps as well; getting free angle iron in exchange for posting company banners in the building was another example. It really came together nice and somewhat cheap.”

So not only is Carr keeping skateboarding alive and well in West Virginia, he’s bringing back the barter system; just in time for the collapse of our economy. Oh, and he also gave us a bit of a scoop about one more cool thing.

“We have created the biggest contest this state has ever seen and will be hosting it around April. It was going to be a secret until March but I will let the cat out of the bag. It will be called King Of The Hills. The only requirement is that you have to be a West Virginia resident. This is to put West Virginia on the skateboarding map. It will be featured in skateboarding magazines, it will have celebrity guest judges and a huge cash and prize purse for the winners.”

And all humor aside, for people in our age bracket, it’s great to see Carr and Pawnshop doing what they’re doing.

“Oh man that’s what this is all about. Giving these young kids what we didn’t have. Times are different now; we’re on the scene and have firm control of the wheel. 2009 should be a wild ride.”

--- For lock-in or contact info for Pawnshop, see above flyer

Shamrock's shells out local CDs

When Ian Thornton started booking bands at Marley’s Doghouse last year, he brought something with him that some booking dudes at venues don’t; the experience of being in a band. The 25-year old Huntington resident (and former Love Coats bassist) has helped smooth the transition from Marley’s to what is now Shamrock’s Irish Pub by simply treating bands with respect.

“As a working musician I can look at the scene from two points of view. I’ve been the guy calling and emailing trying to get bars to work with you, and honestly it can be quite difficult,” Thornton said over email. “You learn that a lot of club owners aren’t very willing to work with the bands; they’re just looking for entertainment that will make them as much cash as possible. I try to take a much different approach when I book shows.”

In addition to booking bands and scheduling cool weekly events like open mic/acoustic and honky tonk nights, Thornton has come up with an idea that has to this point escaped area venues for whatever reason; selling local CDs straight out of the bar.

To this point Thornton has approached bands and artists like Genuine Junk Band, Bud Carroll & the Southern Souls, Jeff Ellis, The Demon Beat, Sarasota, The Family Conspiracy, Attack Flamingo, The Greens, Billy Matheny, The Red Velvet, The Salty Sirens, Jordan Andrew Jefferson, Kevin Arbogast, and Jess Graham about having Shamrock’s operate as a sort of local music clearinghouse to help get the word out about the bands in the area.

“This is actually an endeavor that I have taken on personally with my own money, and using Shamrock’s as the outlet,” he said. “Bands have all been great and more than helpful with me in terms of acquiring CDs. My approach was to pick out about 15 bands and purchase five copies of their CD at a somewhat discounted price. This way they get their money right away as opposed to dealing with consignment. I have told them all that no CD will be sold for more than $8, figuring if we keep the music cheap people will be more inclined to venture out and look for something new.”

So he avoids the can o’ worms that can come with spec-type deals, and is using his own money for this. Let that sink in.

“The bands have been great to work with so far. By purchasing them outright they see their end instantly, so hopefully we cancel out any sort of chance for animosity or misunderstanding between parties. They have all commented that they really like the idea and are willing to lend a helping hand however. Plus, it’s a win win, for them; they’re selling numerous copies of their CDs and getting their music exposed at a new place.”

Thornton added that neither he nor Shamrock’s profit off the sales of said CDs, but will use the money to buy more CDs and, hopefully, just make his startup money back. It’s the kind of idea that seems so crazy, it just may work, kind of like having honky tonk Wednesdays, hosted by Paul Weaver of Dig-Its fame.

“Paul is a friend of mine and when he approached me with this I thought it was a cool idea, but I was a bit skeptical,” Thornton admitted. “I mean Honky Tonk vinyls all night at an Irish Pub? lol. But honestly they’ve been going great. Paul has a great selection of stuff, and who doesn’t love “GOOD” country music? He always keeps it different as well. You’ll never hear a bunch of the same stuff from week to week. Our regulars all have a good time, and the crowds keep on picking up.”

Thornton, who’s in a new Huntington-area band called Whirling Dervish, said that while in The Love Coats, Marley’s was their favorite place to play because of the laid back rock and roll atmosphere, and that was something he and the management wanted to bring to Shamrock’s.

“I really loved Marley’s. We definitely wanted to keep the feel of “realness” if that makes sense -- not a plush place where you’re afraid to spill your beer; a place to get up close and personal with the acts on the stage. We just wanted to clean up the joint and create a great venue in Huntington where people could have a good time and see good music.”

Thornton says it’s worked so far.

“We’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about the new place. I don’t believe that we’ve had one problem with bands, which is kind of amazing. It just goes to show what can happen when there is mutual respect and not some sort of hierarchy or roles. I believe people are really happy with the way we (my brother Shane, his wife Sara and I) run Shamrock’s.”

For Thornton and the Shamrock’s crew, it’s kind of a labor of love, working with bands.

“I feel that I’m here to serve the scene,” he said. “Granted, I want Shamrock’s to be as profitable as possible so that we can keep putting on shows, but not at the expense of bands. I do my best to treat all the bands as well as possible. We’ve got a great scene here in this state and we need to fight for it to show that to people. There’s a great buzz going on in this town and I see many good things to come.”

WBG releases "For Glory Or For Flames"

West By God is set to release their new CD "For Glory Or For Flames" February 7th at 123 Pleasant St. in Magic Town. To help things along, WBG has enlisted their friends in Morgantown's killer (Alex Jones sampling) instru-metal three-piece Hovel, and fellow Magic Town acoustic Celt rockers The Staggering Cardoons. Irish + rock is always good.

We'd very much look forward to hearing the new WBG CD, if you're up that way, check 'em out, or if you're nowhere near Morgantown like us, check the band out online.

CD Review: One Hundred Hurricanes "60 Years Under The Stars"

CD: "60 Years Under The Stars"
ARTIST: One Hundred Hurricanes

The simplest jumping off point is to say that, if you like The Strokes, you'll like or maybe even fall head over heels in love with One Hundred Hurricanes.

Formerly known as The Getaway, this Morgantown-based four-piece compiles 15 super catchy Brit-pop influenced rock songs on their debut effort "60 Years Under The Stars," a CD we'd initially describe in the good-to-great category. We'll admit; the jpeg of the CD cover we uploaded above pretty much sucks, but the CD, well, pretty much rocks.

The band (Michael Withrow: guitar/vocals; Denny Dingus: lead guitar; Kyle Williams: bass, vocals; Nick Kirk: drums) kicks the CD off with the high-energy rump shaker "Duke Hat" -- a heavy nod to The Strokes. There's another Mike Withrow? Apparently, and he's been drinking the water up there. Withrow's faux English accent is of course one of the first things that jump out at you, with lyrics about typical young rocker lifestyles; being on the outs when it comes to life, love, and being in a band.

"Lookout" is bouncy Brit-rock that has Withrow lamenting he "...didn't know exactly how to stand out in a place that just wants trends." Like most of the songs, it's catchy, with a cool solo thrown in for good measure. "Back On Your Own" is one of the real gems on the CD; a mellow, downbeat number that would serve nicely as the last song on what, in an earlier day, could've been the last song on the front side of the record and/or tape. You can surely remember those days.

"Snake" is a slower changeup with very cool solos and shredding, with Withrow asking rehtorically "Is it radio friendly?" Yes, your band is getting airplay on WVU's radio station and WCLG, man!

The CD closes with Withrow on piano on the mellow, near-power ballad "When The Pictures Fade," a song that dutifully changes things up at the end. Withrow sings introspectively "You'll see everything, when you're old and gray. You'll see everything as the pictures fade." A nice way to end things.

Recorded aptly (as most are up there, it seems) at Mark Poole's Zone 8 Studios in Granville, the CD would easily make it into our "top 10" of 2009, if that means anything, or if we make it that far.

From the songwriting to the recording to the sleek, artful, neato packaging (done DIY-style by Williams), this is a CD that you wouldn't be surprised to find on the shelves at some mega-chain, or hear on some cool radio station, like U92, maybe (AHEM!). Lyrics would've been nice, just because it seems like Withrow comes up with some good ones. ("Do you think that god is really one of us? You know she'd like to say so, and I think she does." he sings on "Back On Your Own")

Overall, "60 Years Under The Stars" is a nice reminder of what we've already known about Magic Town; great bands up that way. A very cool CD and a great way to kick off 2009.


--- One Hundred Hurricanes releases "60 Years Under The Stars" Friday @ 123 Pleasant St. with Pittsburgh's Omega Love and Morgantown's own Daniel Conway.

Clutch comes to Huntington

Although Clutch is based in Maryland, they're no strangers to local fans and venues. The band is slated to play the V Club in Huntintgon February 11th, kicking off a near show-per-day mini-tour that runs through February.

The band recently set up their own label, Weathermaker Music, and released their live DVD/CD "Full Fathom Five" in the fall of '08. That was just late last year, but it seems like a long time ago.

Even though this is a rare Wednesday night show, and tickets are $25 in advance, Clutch has too wide of a following for this show to not make the local fire marshal worry; it will be packed. Clutch will bring their side project, The Bakerton Group (which will release "El Rojo" 2.17), Alabama's Willem Maker and Portland, Oregon's Red Fang.

We wouldn't be surprised to see them in some newspaper, in an article about the band coming to town. If you're interested in pre-ordering tickets for the show, click here, or just show up on the 11th.

H-D Tri-State Music Scene showcase show comes to V Club

The Demon Beat (above) is one of the many rockin' bands that will play the Huntington Herald-Dispatch Tri-State Music Scene local music showcase show at the V Club next Saturday.

There are shows where you may be able to catch two or three cool area rock bands; not uncommon. Saturday, January 24th, at the V Club in Huntington, more than a dozen local and regional bands will play the Huntington Herald-Dispatch Tri-State Music Scene's local music showcase show. Starting around five in the afternoon and running into the wee hours, the show features some of our personal Huntington faves.

The H-D TSMS blog, up for a few months, is the brainchild of 22-year old Moorefield native and someone no stranger to covering local bands -- writer, photographer, (videographer?) and now blogger Taylor Kuykendall. Pulling his various talents together at the Dispatch, Kuykendall now has a platform to cover what he sees as the best area bands; some more established, and some you may not have heard of.

“My reason for starting the blog was to keep my music skills sharpened, but also to improve the paper based on my skill sets,” Kuykendall said over e-mail.

“Blogging…is an amazing way to throw out new bands. My only real responsibility is to expose people to the band. I don’t have to do much convincing, because I can provide sound clips where the reader can hear the band. I don’t ask them to do much, so the case is pretty simple to make. My job in any case is to bring audiences to bands that deserve it.”

In addition to studying Journalism at Marshall and serving as an intern at the paper, helping cover the local crime beat (which would keep him busy enough in Huntington), he’s now pulled off the Herculean effort of booking a killer show, with a newspaper and a bar collaborating on said show.

“When I got a job at the Herald-Dispatch, I was afraid I would be committed to hard news and features. I was at first, but they let me have more responsibility as I proved I could handle it.” We'll say.

Kuykendall sounded almost as surprised as we are that the show, which, thanks to Route 60 Music will benefit charity, came together so smoothly.

“It was much easier than I ever imagined,” he admitted. “I went to Patrick Guthrie at the V Club first. He was ecstatic. That whole scene at the V is just bubbling with love for local music. Bill Galloway and Patrick were both really supportive and helpful of the whole situation.”

“The Herald-Dispatch was very supportive. Dave [Lavender] helped a lot with suggestions on what I needed to do to go about everything. Ed Dawson, our executive editor, loved the idea. He is a big supporter of arts in the area. I basically told him what I wanted to do and he took care of everything else. The only thing I had to do was schedule and select the bands.”

Kuykendall, who had previously covered local bands as a radio show host at WMUL and in Graffiti Magazine, said his involvement with the blog came about just as smoothly, with some help. “Dave Lavender, who I think is somewhat of a journalistic celebrity around here, really took me in and helped get me into the entertainment reporting side of things.”


The bands booked to play would arguably rival the best "Loud and Local" second stages. Jeff Ellis, The Red Velvet, Attack Flamingo and Bad Employees -- a few of Huntington’s best area bands, will be joined by The Demon Beat (Shepherdstown), Extragrump (formerly fistfightwithgretchen), a new band from Huntington called Alamo Royale (aka The Stops!) and some other, maybe not-always-heard solo artists, including Red Velvet frontman Jordan Andrew Jefferson, Charleston's Benji Taylor, and Huntington's own Paul Callicoat.

It’s being able to literally showcase these acts at the show and on the blog that appeals to Kuykendall.

“Cory Jackson is one of the guys that most people haven’t heard. He’s a friend of mine that I thinks deserves a little attention, but until now he has only played a few open mic nights. A lot of the acts are established in the area, and they are going to draw a crowd, others however, are smaller groups that I think deserve just as much attention.”

Kuykendall, who admitted to dabbling on guitar, said he appreciates the passion of the bands, what it takes to perform, and the excitement they showed about the show.

“Every band booked is genuine and honest with their songwriting. Some of the groups are pure artists, others are pure rockers and a few are a good blend of the two. There is a lot of real love, talent and passion in this group…Every single one of the artists jumped at the opportunity to help out. A few wanted gas money and a few requested some free pictures from the event, but most just wanted the chance to play in front of a crowd.”

“I have played guitar a little bit and I write songs to impress people every once in a while. I am always admiring people around me who can muster the determination to create something as complex and beautiful as a good song. I would have loved to be a rock star, but I am trying to live the closest thing to it by interviewing people more successful than me.”

Kuykendall rightfully expresses excitement about his H-D blog, and seems to place it in a nice context of the area.

“Well, the blog is definitely going to be gaining steam. I am adding more frequent posts and content…With the economy down, I think it’s important to escape life every once in a while. If I can do that for a few Tri-State citizens before I move on to something else, I have succeeded, even if I never become a rock star.”


--- The H-D Tri-State Music Scene showcase show starts at 5p.m. Saturday, January 24th at the V Club in Huntington. See above flier for band info, cover is $8 at the door and $5 in advance. Click here to see about pre-ordering tickets. Demon Beat pic by Melissa Rogers