Hello there.  Anyone taking my lead and building any motion sensing, fecal matter vaporizing, laser death rays for their yard lately?  No.  Ok, just thought I’d check.  This week is a purposeful departure from usual format.  I would like to make everyone aware of a couple things.  One being that the big one year for The 814 Times being in existence is fast approaching – May 16th to be exact.  To commemorate this anniversary of anniversaries, we will be minting coins with an image of me, semi nude, posing as futuristic space Spartan – all of which will be hand delivered by our new eight foot tall robotic spider/mobile car wash….

Really?!!  NO.  I have not the faintest clue how we will actually celebrate this joyous day but I’m sure it will be great no matter what is thought up.  However, the next item I would like to make you aware of does tie into the whole “one year” thing…

That item/idea/possible stupidity would be (drum roll please)….

A redesign of The 814 Times logo.  Yup, I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately and think it’s in need of a revamp and what better time to do so than the one year anniversary of existence.  Even though I’m quite qualified to do this on my own, I would like to include you – the loyal readers and visitors of said site.  I’m looking for your input/ideas/crazy banter so I can take it all into consideration when I sit my ass down to reinvent the wheel.  So, if you would like to submit some insane idea or just a subtle tweak, please send me your thoughts at 814editor@gmail.com and I just may include it/them.  Don’t hurt or strain your grey matter too much on this, as I do not wish to be responsible for any such issues.  Happy thinking.

And what of the headlines you ask?  They return next week with your regularly scheduled column.  I can already say that they are going to be hilarious and plentiful – quite a good batch to look forward to.  See you next week.  Submit some input!

Happy Sunday.

- Editor

Each week here at The 814 Times we like to give out chances to free shows courtesy of Opus One Productions.  The shows, usually new/indie and/or local performances, are hosted at/by three very cool venues in Pittsburgh – Mr. Smalls Theatre, Club Cafe and Brillobox.  To get these tickets in your clutches you must send your name and contact info to 814editor@gmail.com and some lucky people will receive tickets to these shows.  Let’s check out the latest offerings…

The Polyphonic Spree w/ Sweet Lee Morrow

Friday, May 18 – 8:00pm @ Mr. Smalls Theatre

The Polyphonic Spree began July 15, 2000 with an opening slot for Grandaddy and Bright Eyes in Dallas, TX. In actuality it began in 1974 in the mind of a 9 year old Tim DeLaughter. Tim began to dabble in music as most kids do. He bought his first 45 “Beach Baby” by The First Class. Also around that time he loved the effect of singing into a fan. It can be argued that the genesis of The Polyphonic Spree was born in Tim’s formative years. It would just be 25 or so years later until his vision of a choral symphonic rock group would become a reality. Over the course of touring for “The Beginning Stages Of…” and “Together We’re Heavy” The Polyphonic Spree played pretty much every major festival including Bonnaroo Coachella, Austin City Limits Festival, Glastonbury, Reading, and Leeds to name but a few. The band also graced the small screen via the MTV Video Music Awards, Nobel Peace Prize Concet, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, JayLeno, Craig Kilborn, Austin City Limits, Scrubs, Las Vegas, et. al.

Check ‘em out > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcjW2O9F88

Moon Hooch w/ The Mondaze, Beer Commercials

Wednesday, May 2 – 8:00pm @ Club Cafe

Spawned from New York City’s subways in 2010, busking trio Moon Hooch (Wenzl McGown and Mike Wilbur on tenor saxophone, James Muschler on drums) has developed a style of dance music all their own – Cave Music. Moon Hooch creates frenzied foot-stomping bashes with nothing more than two saxophones, drums, and the occasional contrabass clarinet. Their self-funded, self-released debut album “proves that you can do a s*** ton with just those three instruments.” The tenor saxophones frequently feud like a round table debate of drunken philosophers, while the Muschler’s minimal drum kit rattles off, arguing only with itself. Like The Felice Brothers, Moon Hooch has cultivated a dedicated “underground” following by playing to thousands of subway passengers. Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing) took notice of the band’s unique style while waiting for a train and invited them on a month long national tour in November 2011 as his supporting act.

Check ‘em out > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKWurkilsh0&ob=av3e

Boca Chica / The Harlan Twins / Carousel

Friday, May 11 – 10:00pm @ Brillobox

Boca Chica has been a fixture in the Pittsburgh music landscape for a while now, and the band’s latest release, Get Out of Sin City, shows them making not so much a departure from their alt-country pop sound but a closer exploration of the genre of country music itself—all while still kicking out the jams bar-band style. – by Kurt Garrison for Pittsburgh Magazine || The Harlan Twins, a five piece from the East End, have been supplying Pittsburgh with high-energy rock and roll and good times since 2008. Getting their start in a small Bloomfield apartment, songwriters and lead vocalists James Hart and Carrie Battle knew their fates were sealed over a living room rendition of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” Weaving the classic rock songwriting of the late 60’s, righteous four part harmonies, and rowdy, powerful live performances, these lovable tramps have made a name for themselves around town as an act you don’t want to follow. – IronCitySound.com ||Carousel’s embodied spirit of late 70’s classic rock/early metal rocked our faces off one guitar solo at a time, whether playing sets at the Brillobox or Gooski’s or playing as Kiss at The Shop’s Halloween cover band show. Just you wait: Kiss will be covering Carousel songs soon enough. – by Rick Moslen for Pgh City Paper.

Check ‘em out > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipa3XOD1FYk
http://vimeo.com/34817787

There you have them.  Now enter for your chance(s) to win…

- Editor

We all like free things and we all like entertainment, put the two concepts together and the result is free tickets to cool shows.  Each week here on The 814 Times we post the latest batch of ticket giveaways to upcoming shows at three very cool venues in Pittsburgh, courtesy of Opus One Productions.  No matter what your musical flavor or preference may be, there’s always something in the mix for everyone.  If one (or more) strike your interest, simply submit your name and contact info to 814editor@gmail.com and you just may be the lucky winner of some free tickets.  Let’s take a look at the latest offerings…

The Maine w/ Lydia, Arkells

Sunday, May 13 – 7:00pm @ Mr.Smalls Theatre

Despite sharing their name with a northeastern state, the Maine formed in 2007 in Tempe, AZ, a collegiate suburb of Phoenix. Most of the bandmembers — singer John O’Callaghan, guitarists Kennedy Brock and Jared Monaco, bassist Garrett Nickelsen, and drummer Pat Kirch — were in high school at the time, and the guys wasted little time turning their ’90s radio rock band influences into a familiar, infectious pop-punk sound. The Maine signed to Fearless Records and released a five-song concept EP, The Way We Talk, in 2007. After performing on the Vans Warped Tour one year later, the group issued a full-length debut album, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, which was produced by emo-pop veteran Matt Squire. The record peaked at number 40 on the Billboard charts and caught the ear of Warner Bros. Records, who signed the Maine to a major-label contract in 2009. After releasing a deluxe version of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop later that year, the group returned to the studio, eventually emerging in 2010 with the sophomore album Black &White. That year also marked some new developments for the band: their first headlining tour, and album of the year accolades for Black & White from Alternative Press. The Maine offered full-length Pioneer in December 2011. – AllMusicGuide

Larkin Poe w/ The Shadowboxers, Nancy Deckant

Tuesday, May 1 – 8:00pm @ Club Cafe

“We are sisters. We are music lovers. We are storytellers. Every since we were little girls, we’ve been awed by the power of a story well told: from children’s books and bedtime yarns to figments and fairytales. Before we were able to read, we hounded our parents for “more stories!” and then, when at last we could; we began hounding the bookshelves. Now, nearly a decade later, at 19 and 20, we’re still doing the same thing. We’re still on the search for stories, and striving to learn how to tell them well. Now, we not only hound bookshelves, but also the people surrounding us. We search for stories of human experience, of love won and love lost, and of the million mundane things that make up everyday life. Larkin Poe: the name of our great-great-great-grandfather; a man who survives in the memories and hearts of succeeding generations; a legend, a tall tale, a truly everlasting story. Just the thing that we hope to become.”

Mr. Gnome w/ Pet Clinic, Father Flamethrower

Saturday, May 5 – 10:00pm @ Brillobox

“Mr Gnome… is at once Rust Belt scrappy and dreamily explosive… sounds like a spaced-out take on primal Midwestern post-punk…. BAND TO WATCH” – Rolling Stone ** “Floating between ephemeral and ghostly vocals, heavy hitting percussion and sharp psychedelic guitars, Mr. Gnome plays experimental music that’s infectious. With Nicole Barille and Sam Meister splitting instrumental duties, it’s quite impressive to hear how full of a sound the pair can create.” – Magnet ** “Although Barille is blessed with a vocal quality that recalls the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O at her most seductive, the group’s sound veers from Björk-like vocal experiments to raging White Stripes-styled bashers, to modern alternative experiments infused with a love of classic ‘70s rock that are hard to pin down, pulling off the rare feat of sounding both familiar and alien at the exact same time.” – PopMatters

There you have it, the latest handful of ticket giveaways.  Now, take the time to enter and you just may be going to the show of your choice.

For more info on these and other shows, visit: www.opusoneproductions.com

> Editor

Hello, hello and here we go.  As promised, we here at The 814 Times like to keep you in the loop on the latest ticket giveaways courtesy of Opus One Productions.  Three very fine Pittsburgh clubs/venues: Mr. Smalls Theatre, Club Cafe and Brillobox all host infinite genre spectrum spanning shows on a constant basis and, thanks to Opus One, feature a select few shows per month where you can attend for free.  Here’s the latest batch up for grabs.  Check ‘em out…

Augustana w/ Greylag

Friday, April 27 – 8:00pm @ Mr. Smalls Theatre

Beginning before they were even “old enough to drink,” as frontman/songwriter Dan Layus puts it, the band Augustana has grown up tremendously over the past three years, touring relentlessly while supporting Epic debut All the Stars and Boulevards (which reached #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart) and hit single “Boston.” Inking a producer before they’d been seriously tested before an audience, and finding themselves in the recording studio tracking a major-label debut before the masses knew who they were, the band had to grow into the ambitious blueprint they’d set out for themselves, and grow they did.

Clarence Bucaro w/ Jeremy Sessa

Tuesday, April 17 – 8:00pm @ Club Cafe

“Cozy songs that hark back to the late 1960’s Van Morrison” -New York Times. Over the span of five albums literate and honey-voiced singer-songwriter Clarence Bucaro has crafted an impressive canon of uplifting Americana, garnering comparisons to Jackson Browne and Van Morrison. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter initially built his career on a robust 300-shows-per-year schedule. His warm and rustic aesthetic has a broad appeal and has made him compatible sharing stages with such diverse and established artists as Aaron Neville, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Gomez, Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, North Mississippi Allstars, Cowboy Junkies and Fountains of Wayne. His initial apprenticeship with singer-songwriter Anders Osborne – best known for penning Tim McGraw’s 3-million selling single “Watch The Wind Blow”- helped him define and refine his own down-home palette. Clarence’s upcoming fifth album is his most ambitious and diverse album to date. The lushly soulful Walls Of The World, released April 3rd 2012 on 20/20 Records, is a thematic piece using walls as metaphor for political and personal division.

Bare Mutants / Outer Minds w/ The Awful Waffles

Wednesday, May 2 – 9:30pm @ Brillobox

Chicago’s explosive and underrated Outer Minds have finally come to the surface after simmering in the underworld in several different incarnations over the past few years, and with unbelievably great results. Sharpening their sound into a legion of 60s pop/psych textures and nuances normally reserved for the baroque set with their impeccable glockenspiel-laden arrangements, Outer Minds weave a rich web of sound around impossibly perfect hooks and deliver an impressive EP worthy of your immediate attention. Lead by Zach Medearis (Black Beauties, Lover!) and A-Ron Orlowski’s (Baseball Furies, Lover!, Dirges) fine assemblage of rough-cut harmonies, the band has gone through more name and roster changes than most, but once the current lineup coalesced into the tight-knit unit performing today, everything fell into place to create this sumptuous wall of sound that will blow your little mind to bits.

There you have ‘em.  For your chance at these giveaways, send your name and contact info to: 814editor@gmail.com and we’ll see who the lucky winners are.  For more info on these and other shows, visit: www.opusoneproductions.com

> Editor

Free tickets here – maybe…

They could be free, but you have to enter to see….

The freshest batch of ticket giveaways just strolled through the door, courtesy of Opus One Productions. As you may know by now, we here at The 814 Times like to keep you in the loop on upcoming shows and events – especially when there’s a chance to go for free.  So check out what this batch has to offer and enter to see if you get a free ride…

Good Old War w/ The Belle Brigade, Family of the Year

Thursday, April 19 – 7:30pm @ Mr. Smalls Theatre (Pittsburgh)

Over the past three years, indie-folk trio Good Old War has captivated countless audiences with their acoustic-driven, sing-along-inspiring live performances. Now, with the release of their third full-length record Come Back as Rain (out March 6th, 2012 on Sargent House), the Philadelphia based band harnesses the high-spirited simplicity that makes their shows so unforgettable. Like Only Way To Be Alone (Good Old War’s 2008 debut) and their 2010 self-titled sophomore effort, Come Back as Rain showcases the delicately textured melodies and multipart harmonies that have become the band’s signature. Once again revealing their penchant for infectious folk-pop, Good Old War this time sharpens their sound by infusing Come Back as Rain with the same joyful passion they’ve ceaselessly brought to the stage.

Erick Baker w/ ScheaButter

Tuesday, April 17 – 8:00pm @ Club Cafe (Pittsburgh)

Music that breathes. That’s really the most fitting description for the essence of Erick Baker’s songs. Since releasing his debut EP, It’s Getting Too Late To Say It’s Early, in 2008, Erick’s unique voice and very personal songwriting style have led listeners through music rich with themes that connect us all – hopes, fears, love, and loss.  A skillful blend of widely divergent influences — rock, pop, soul, blues, country, folk – has resulted in a distinctive genre he calls “American Music”.  Erick grew up in a small town in Tennessee and, after graduating from college, saw the blank canvas of his future impulsively begin to fill with music. A lyrical path that began in Knoxville’s pubs and bars led to an offer to open for musical icon John Legend. Since then Erick has toured with a variety of artists, including James Blunt, Gavin Degraw, Edwin McCain, Goo Goo Dolls, Grace Potter, Brandi Carlisle and Heart.

Lovedrug w/ The Last Royals, Amplifiers.

Sunday, April 15 – 9:30pm @ Brillobox (Pittsburgh)

Whether from the birth canal of some sempiternal, chthonic creature OR from some tatterdemalion’s back-alley bar filled with furmen, Lovedrug the band has never been, and possibly will never be, a smashing success. But they seek it, oddly. Putting oneself out there, not unlike being in this particular bar, is a risky venture. And sometimes the proverbial shit does hit the fan. But why not let it happen? Who knows where this road will lead. Besides, to take back a song is to redress a devil and to redress a devil takes skill that is beyond the common key. And the key these days is to bask in disaster and pet its woolen hand; to build a diamond ring for your lover from the ashes of the pavement that wind up to her house. The music that floats around inside the belly of this town speaks low with a mutter and tapping into it requires askewed eye for twisted beauty. The homeless, half-naked, dirty widow at the end of the bar, for instance, knows more about this life than most scholarly folk, I guarantee it. And I tell you this for damn sure, we need to be singing HER song. Take that as you may; the real point is avoid the knell. Let it ring, hear the sound, bow your head and take a moment for the weary soul that just got let down. But please, do not let it stare you down; especially at three in the morning outside a rehearsal space whilst a train blares by at top speed crushing its horn and whipping the cigarette out of your hand.

So there you have ‘em.  Now hop on the chance to go to one (if not possibly all) for free…

To enter for the ticket giveaways, send your name and contact info to: 814editor@gmail.com.

For more info on these and other shows, visit www.opusoneproductions.com

- Editor

It’s time for more ticket giveaways in the ‘Burgh courtesy of Opus One Productions.  Each week Opus One passes along a fistful of shows at three awesome clubs in Pittsburgh that anyone/everyone has a chance at experiencing for free.  All you have to do is actually enter.  Here’s the latest batch…

Foxy Shazam w/ Maniac, Cadaver Dogs, Dazzletine
Wednesday,  April 4 – 7:30pm @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
For millennia, mankind has pondered the meaning of life. In 2012, the answer will arrive. Welcome to the Church of Rock and Roll, baby. Foxy Shazam have traveled the globe for years spreading their bombastic gospel and singing the praises of a life less ordinary, leading a massive mutiny against the mundane and converting thousands of believers in the fight to save what’s right about the world. But the world ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Foxy Shazam, the most electrifying rock band to inhabit the planet for the past seven years, have just crafted the most meaningful and grandiose record of their career and they’re ready to unleash it into public domain. Produced by Justin Hawkins, the mastermind behind U.K. glam-rockers The Darkness, The Church of Rock and Roll is an ambitious and awe-inspiring cavalcade of passion and humanity. From the bawdy sex-strut of lead single “I Like it” to the heart-wrenching ardor of “Forever Together”, this is a record for anyone with a beating heart.

Boheme (Cassidy formerly of Antigone Rising) w/ Jenny Morgan
Tuesday, April 3 – 8:00pm @ Club Cafe
At first glance, Bohème’s Follow the Freedom seems like it must be the work of a new artist. According to all search engines and music libraries, no such person or entity has ever released an album before. In fact, though, Bohème is the name taken by an established and acclaimed musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur to mark a new chapter in her career, and in her life. So rather than announcing the arrival of a rookie, Follow the Freedom represents an artist reborn. From late 1999 to early 2008, Cassidy was the frontwoman and primary songwriter in Antigone Rising. After releasing four independent albums, the all-female rock band was signed to Lava/Atlantic Records, and its 2005 major label debut From the Ground Up sold upwards of 500,000 copies. Celebrated for the excitement of her live performances, Cassidy toured with The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Dave Matthews, and Rob Thomas. “It was an amazing period of discovery and growth,” says Cassidy. “I learned a lot about the business, and about being part of a team, since I was always a bit of a loner. But for many reasons, by the end I just wasn’t getting all that I’d hoped for.”

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s w/ Writer, Sveta Bout
Saturday, April 7 – 10:00pm @ Brillobox
Margot & the nuclear so and so’s third album Buzzard is primal and truculent, going straight for the vitals. Opener “Birds” finds the band going to places they haven’t before – lovely, languid verses progressing into fuzzed out, howling choruses throughout the song’s twists and turns – while still holding to the guitar-based ethos on which the album is founded. “Lunatic, lunatic, lunatic” may be familiar sonic territory for singer/guitarist Richard Edwards, but the (very) dark humor that slowly unveils is something that he has only flirted with (innocently) in the past. “New York City Hotel Blues” and “Claws Off” distill Margot’s music to its essence: melody-driven pop music with teeth, set adrift against Edwards’ surreal and emotional, if slightly twisted lyrical tendencies. Similarly, “I Do” refines the evocative chamber-pop for which the band is known to its most heart-rending fundamentals, supported by simply Richards’ plaintive voice and an acoustic guitar. And there is, of course, an intriguing path that led Margot towards this evolution in sound, which contrasts the lively optimism of 2008’s Animal! (and/or Not Animal, simultaneously released after contention with former label Epic). Buzzard was recorded over one freezing month last winter in an abandoned movie theater in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood. Edwards had taken up residence there after leaving his hometown of Indianapolis, when the house where he and the previous seven members of the band had lived was damaged in a fire last summer. Once settled, he began writing a collection of songs loosely inspired by the 8mm ‘nudie cutie’ films unearthed in the theater’s basement, and the youthful reaction of mixed emotions that the films evoked.

So there you have ‘em, the shows in which to enter for.  Hop on it fast so you don’t miss your chance.

For more info on these and other shows, visit: www.opusoneproductions.com

To enter for the ticket giveaways, submit your name and contact info to 814editor@gmail.com.

- Editor

That’s right, this week’s batch of ticket giveaways just came in courtesy of Opus One Productions.  Each week we receive a fistful of shows that anyone and everyone has a chance at seeing on someone else’s dime.  Entering for the tickets is slightly different from here on out, but let’s look at the shows first. So, check ‘em out…

SHPONGLE presents The Masquerade w/ Phutureprimitive

Thursday, March 29 – 9:00pm @ Mr. Smalls Theatre

With over 80 years’ experience collectively Simon Posford and Raja Ram are more than qualified for the exploration into the unclassifiable music frontiers they have ventured into; ‘SHPONGLE’ is a new world of traditional sounds, acoustic guitars, Moroccan drums, Turkish operatic singing, cello, double bass, backing vocals and silver flute blended together with the computer wizardry of Simon Posford’s studio production. Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) has long had a reputation as the, ‘Hallucinogenius’ a imitable pioneer in sound experimentation, from his seminal first album, ‘Twisted’ which reached No.28 in the French charts selling over 50,000 copies worldwide, up to his recent Millennium hit, ‘Mi-Loony-Um’ with it sup-to-the minute modem melodies. His international fan base has flowered from country-wide to world-wide in the last ten years, since his humble beginnings at Youth’s Butterfly Studios in Brixton, this year alone he has played over 16 sell out gigs around the world, each with a capacity of over 1500 people, in Australia, Israel, New York, Pittursburg, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Moscow, Geneva, Montreal, Tokyo to name just a few. In Tokyo he has received a lot of TV and press coverage for their ambient project, ‘Shpongle’ which has intrigued the Japanese audience with its international blend of traditional world music and modern musical mastery.

Jonny Corndawg w/ Shovels and Rope, Robert Ellis

Tuesday, March 27 – 8:00pm @ Club Cafe

Jonny Corndawg is a country singer, not a singer-songwriter. Born in Montana, raised in rural Virginia, Corndawg has been touring on his motorcycle since he dropped out of school in 2001. He’s played shows in every U.S. state, Canada and eleven European countries, Australia, Argentina and India. But you won’t find him on CMT. His music is more in the vein of that obscure ’70s country that housewives would discover on a Bear Family reissue in twenty years. In addition to pursuing the lost art of the Real Deal, Corndawg is an airbrushing, leather-working, marathon-running, truck-driving American. Born and Bred.

Goldenboy w/ The Velcro Shoes, Hot Garbage

Saturday, March 31 – 10:00pm @ Brillobox

Featuring Shon Sullivan, ex-guitarist of Elliott Smith, Eels, The Rentals and Neil Finn (Crowded House). Since the release of his band’s 2003 debut Blue Swan Orchestra –– a KCRW favorite that featured guest vocals by Elliott Smith on “Summertime” –– Shon Sullivan’s Goldenboy has trekked near forever on the road, supporting the likes of Bright Eyes, Neil Finn, Stephen Malkmus and Grandaddy. For most of these shows, he was doing double-duty as well, playing multiple instruments with Finn, the Rentals, Eels and others on tours across the globe. When Elliott Smith caught wind of Sullivan’s prowess on guitar and keyboards in the LA-area band Spain, he quickly drafted him into his band; it was during his time along side Smith that Sullivan began developing his own material, which would eventually become Goldenboy. Blue Swan Orchestra was recorded with drummer Bryan Bos and bears distant traces of Smith’s influence. Its follow-up, Underneath the Radio (2006), found Sullivan and Bos joined by a cast of heavies including Neil Finn, Lisa Germano, Scott McPherson, Matt Sharp and Phil Jordan. Goldenboy as it stands today is comprised of Shon Sullivan (Vocals / Guitar), Nicole Verhamme (Guitar), Keith Brown (Keyboards), Katy Stone (Bass) and Jon Crawford (Drums).

So there you have ‘em.  Now hop on the chance(s) to win some tickets…

For more info on the shows, visit: www.opusoneproductions.com.  TO ENTER FOR THE TICKET GIVEAWAYS, send your name, address and contact info to: 814editor@gmail.com – only 3 will be picked to enter.

- Editor

Here’s the latest batch of ticket giveaways courtesy of Opus One Productions.  Each week a new fistful is up for grabs and we here at The 814 Times like to get the word out.  Check ‘em out…

91.3fm WYEP presents Fanfarlo w/ Gardens & Villa

Sunday, March 25 – 8:00pm – Mr. Smalls Theatre

Emerging from London, England, in the mid-to late 2000′s as an up-and-coming indie pop band, Fanfarlo got their name out with a series of singles, a strong Internet presence, and an engaging live show that took them as far as the ~South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX. Citing influences such as Broken Social Scene, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Belle & Sebastian, and Sufjan Stevens, the band is comprised of Simon Balthazer (vocals), Mark West (guitar), Leon Beckenham (trumpet), Cathy Lucas (violin), Justin Finch (bass), and Amos Memon (drums). They released their first single, Talking Backwards, in 2006 on FortunaPop. It was followed by You Are One of the Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us/In the Trunk (2007, Fandango), Fire Escape/We Live by the Lake (2007, White Heat Records), and Harold T. Wilkins (2008, Felt Tip Records).

Jeffrey Lewis w/ Kid Brother

Early Show – Saturday, March 24 – 7:00pm – Club Cafe

Born and raised Lower East Sider Jeffrey Lewis leads a double-life, as both a comic book writer/artist and a musician (or is that a triple-life?). His band Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard also has a schizophrenic existence, ranging between contemplative folk narratives and distortion-fueled garage rock. Live shows incorporate “low budget videos,” Jeff’s large illustrations displayed to accompany certain songs, such as Jeff’s educational multi-part “History of Communism” or flights of fancy like “The Creeping Brain.” In 2001 Jeffrey Lewis signed to Rough Trade Records (The Smiths, The Strokes, Belle & Sebastian, etc) and has since released five albums, in addition to touring the world and performing with Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Devendra Banhart, Black Dice, Thurston Moore, The Fall, The Vaselines, Beth Orton, Frank Black, The Fiery Furnaces, Daniel Johnston, Scout Niblett, The Mountain Goats, The Moldy Peaches, Cornershop, The Cribs, Dr. Dog, Kimya Dawson, Adam Green, Akron/Family, Roky Erickson, Au Revoir Simone, Peter Stampfel, and other luminaries.

VIA & Garfield Artworks present Night Beats w/ The Van Allen Belt (CD Release), Carousel

Friday, March 30 – 10:00pm – Brillobox

Any number of bands cite 60’s Texas psych as an influence, but rarely does a group actually capture what made those bands special. Following their debut EP also on Trouble In Mind, The Night Beats have expanded on the bedroom immediacy of their first recordings to create an LP that perfectly captures and modernizes the hallucinogenic and exhilaratingly demonic aura of bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Golden Dawn. With blazing guitar work and a razor sharp rhythm section Danny Lee Blackwell and company mutate conventional chords & progressions into a mind-blowing sonic sprawl. The record reels you in with 2-3 minute pop songs like ‘Ain’t Dumbo’ and ‘Dial 666′, forging a landscape that then throws you into a chaotic journey of jams a’la ‘Dewayne’s Drone’ and ‘Little War in the Midwest’ that bend and meander but never overstay their welcome. Tune in, turn on, & drop that needle on this record!

There you go.  Now, take a chance at trying to win these free tickets to a fine time and creative outlet in the ‘Burgh.

For more info and to win tickets, visit www.opusoneproductions.com.

- Editor