Yo, Yo Yiggity Yo. If you like/love/can-admit-an-appreci ation-for, The Decemberists , Best Coast , The Morning After , Corrosion of Conformity , Beggars , Dance Music for Nerds , Caltrop , Americans in France , Jews & Catholics , Red Collar , Dangerous Ponies or Grace Potter & The Nocturnals , then you should LISTEN UP to WKNC 88.1 this week, because we've got giveaways right now for every single one of these shows. You should be listening right now. Below is the list [...]

This weekend (May 20-21), the first annual TREASURE FEST will take place in Charlotte, NC showcasing over 60 independent bands from all over the East Coast. A weekend pass for Friday and Saturday is now available for just $25. Grab your tickets here and support a strictly DIY festival, free from corporate sponsorship and where all profit goes directly to the amazing bands involved. Treasure Fest will feature a ton of amazing up-and-coming and established indie / punk artists from different DIY backgrounds, including Algernon Cadwallader, Daytrader, Restorations, Snowing, 1994!, Everyone Everywhere, [...]

I could ruminate on a lot of things about the new Raleigh Amphitheater after last night's opening. I could discuss the good things, such as how walking with the crowds downtown made Raleigh actually feel like a real city, how you can get food from your favorite Empire eateries, or how the shimmer wall is really pretty stunning when viewed from that angle. And I could write about the not-so-positive things, such as how the amphitheater itself is really pretty charmless and is in fact built RIGHT BESIDE the railroad tracks. The Amtrak and a CFX came through during [...]
Happy New Year Everyone! Here is my top 10 list (in no particular order): 1) Kati O'Toole - On Ashland (Snow Ghost Music) 2) Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord) 3) White Wizzard - High Speed GTO (Earache) 4) Red Collar - Pilgrim (Self-Released) 5) The Besties - Home Free (Hugpatch) 6) Oceano - Depths (Earache) 7) Evergreen Terrace - Almost Home (Metal Blade) 8) Mystery of Two - That's The World [...]

Wow. How is it possible that there was this much good music released in 2009? I've been frantically trying to play catch up throughout the Fall and have just been overwhelmed. Even so, this list was relatively easy to compile. It's made up of 30% what you might call punk albums, 32% what could loosely be classified as some type of Americana or alt-country, 10% are of the heavier variety, and the remaining 28% are all over the place. Additionally, the overwhelming majority of albums on my list were released by independent labels (41) but I [...]
Deckfight has declared Red Collar's "Pilgrim" to be the best album of 2009!

geekstar.com/redcollarmusic.co m Red Collar's Pilgrim was Deckfight's favorite album of 2009 . Here's an article I did on them for the December issue of Bootleg magazine. Red Collar can be found on MySpace and over here on the interwebs . Pilgrim is now available in vinyl and in stores in conjunction with Suburban Home Records . Red Collar: "Pilgrim" If you read a lot [...]

geekstar.com/redcollarmusic.co m Red Collar's Pilgrim was Deckfight's favorite album of 2009. Here's an article I did on them for the December issue of Bootleg magazine. Red Collar can be found on MySpace and over here on the interwebs . Pilgrim is now available in vinyl and in stores in conjunction with Suburban Home Records . Red Collar: "Pilgrim" If you read a lot [...]

I'd been hearing a few people singing the praises of Red Collar's latest full-length, Pilgrim , before I ever had a chance to hear the record for myself. That's the kind of set up that can lead to high expectations. Pilgrim , however, managed to exceed my expectations immediately. The band from Durham, North Carolina delivers an amazing, ambitious, and surprisingly complex album that combines jagged post-punk with heartland Americana that would make Springsteen smile. Just imagine Neil Diamond fronting Birdmonster while covering The Replacements. Red Collar could be the world's most subversive [...]

Troika Festival is this weekend in Durham, NC. Was just going to make some picks for the Troika Festival this wknd in Durham, but screw it, here's the whole schedule with some nice vids scattered in. <!-- Schedule --> Thursday, Nov 5 Durham Central Park [...]
Red Collar release limited vinyl "Pilgrim" Dec 1 Red Collar will release a limited edition vinyl version of their acclaimed debut album " Pilgrim " on December 1st via Loose Charm Records. The 500-copy run will be hand-numbered red vinyl encased by screen-printed sleeves, and the first 100 copies will also be printed with metallic silver ink. The original album sequencing has been reworked to present more of a Side A/Side B feel and while - due to space - [...]

We picked things right back up on Thursday afternoon, teaming up with our friends at Punknews.org to put together a showcase of some of the best rock around. Our Thursday afternoon showcase was once again at The Studio At Webster Hall where we cracked open the doors at noon for patrons to come in and take advantage of the early drink specials (and they did). People caught sets by Let Me Run , who were just a few shows into their run with a new vocalist, Defeater [...]

Red Collar - Pilgrim When the press materials accompanying your album refer to you as "Bruce Springsteen meets Fugazi," that's almost a dare to a music blogger. The combination is so intriguing and tantalizing that is practically guarantees you'll be rising above the din of promo emails and mailings and at least get a listen. The albums opener, "The Commuter," starts with a drumbeat and keyboards reminiscent of Springsteen's "I'm On Fire," so [...]

(Red Collar) Saturday was only the second time I've seen Red Collar . And like the first time I saw them, I was amazed by their energy. And I do mean ENERGY. Anthemic, fist-pumping, "we're going to rise ABOVE" energy. The crowd at Tir na Nog ate it up. I halfway expected them to march out the door and start protesting something. I don't know what they'd protest, but it doesn't really matter. Oh, and I'm listening to 'Pilgrim' right now, thanks to music.mync.com . Red Collar from [...]

It wasn't Jason Kutchma's combat boots with spurs. It wasn't the duct tape on Mike Jackson's guitar, or the count offs: "1, 2, 3, GO!" Neither was it that Kutchma's guitar strap came unsecured on the first track from jumping around. It wasn't the head down, off to the races drumming or the constant smile plastered on bassist Beth Kutchma's face. It was all of this combined. The three voice attack of both Kutchmas and Jackson didn't hurt either. Together it was primal punk from a bygone era – reborn here, now. * * * * [...]

DOWNLOAD: Red Collar - "Pilgrim" (MP3) Durham, NC alt-rock band Red Collar announced that a limited edition red vinyl pressing of their debut release Pilgrim will be coming out soon on Loose Charm Records . It looks like there will be 300-500 copies pressed on transparent red vinyl. "All of them will be hand numbered and on nice, red vinyl. All of the sleeves will be screen-printed. The track order was re-worked to give [...]
We thought Pilgrim was pretty good for a freshman release. Following up the initial release of that album earlier this year, blue collar rockers Red Collar are set to release the obligatory vinyl version of the record via Loose Charm Records . Keeping with the band's do-it-yourself roots, all the sleeves of the records did time in a garage waiting to be filled with delectable red vinyl. For those of you who are procrastinators, you should know only 500 will be pressed, and the first 100 are printed with silver ink. What's a [...]

We goodnaturedly went back and forth with the guys at Earfarm for a couple of days about their choices for the top North Carolina bands . The basic criteria seemed to be ones generally ignored in the popular indie rock press (i.e. not featured in Spin or on huge national tours). In our opinion, there were some pretty glaring omissions. And another problem is that there are a few more glaring omissions off this list. The chance to challenge and enlighten coincided nicely with a new Friday list feature we wanted to start based on [...]